In his time and ours

Omar Khayyamana Padyagalu By Dr. N. Jagadish Koppa

Ladayi Prakashana, Gadag, Rs. 50

Omar Khayyam is no stranger to Kannada readers. We have had writers like D.V. Gundappa and Govinda Pai rendering the rubayat (quatrains) of the great 11th Century Persian Sufi poet and philosopher in a stylised, pre-modern Kannada. More recently, S. Balu Rao has translated them directly from Persian, with an accent on being faithful to the original text.

Jagadish Koppa has chosen to do a free-wheeling translation of Khayyam, by retaining the spirit of each quatrain, but not its fourline format. This mode of translation, he says, is an effort to "directly reach the hearts of this generation of readers in simple Kannada".

The translator, who is himself a poet, achieves this goal quite successfully. The 51 translated poems (he does not call them "rubayat", having changed the format) make for an easy and accessible reading. For a reader already familiar with Khayyam, there are no sparkling new interpretations and surprises, though.

The more interesting part of the book is the elaborate introduction Jagadish writes to the slim volume, placing Khayyam in two contexts: that of his own time in 11th Century Persia and of our time marked by religious animosity. Not many of us, whose knowledge of Khayyam begins and ends with rubayat, know that he was a renowned mathematician, philosopher, astronomer and scientist.

He is recognised as the author of one of the most important treatises on algebra before modern times and as a man who introduced some radical reforms in the calendar system. The immense popularity of Ruyayyat, thanks to Edward Fitzgerald's translations in 19th Century, have virtually eclipsed his significant works in all other areas. Jagadish's introduction gives us a more rounded picture of Khayyam.

Jagadish also places him in a tradition of religious movements that rebelled against orthodoxy, be it Sufi sects or the Vachana movement in Kannada. He says that these approaches to religion did not negate the value of human life in this world, in pursuit of the other- worldly. Interestingly, as Jagadish points out, the genesis of Vachana movement in Karnataka roughly coincides with the times of Khayyam. These inclusive traditions, he says, hold a special relevance to us in these times marked by intolerance.

What could have added to the value of this book is a more elaborate note on the chosen mode of translation. Jagadish acknowledges Fitzgerald's English translation as the source and says that he is also indebted to earlier translations into Kannada. But it is not clear if his primary source was Fitzgerald alone, or also other renderings into English, especially because the English poet's translation has often been criticised as reflecting more of the translator, and less of Khayyam himself.

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