(Minghui.org) I’m from Kerala but currently reside in Bangalore. I’m a software developer by profession, and I began practicing Falun Dafa more than ten years ago.
Kerala, a state in southern India, is home to Malayalam speakers. Translating Falun Dafa books has long been a cherished wish of practitioners in the Malayalam-speaking area. There were several previous attempts to translate the Dafa books by using outside translators, but we were uncertain about how to proceed.
At that time we were engineering students, and hadn’t translated anything before. We never imagined we would be involved in literary works. A new practitioner previously started translating, but we were unable to finish it with him or help him.
However, a practitioner from Kerala’s Thrissur region began translating the book Zhuan Falun. We didn’t have any direction or guidelines at that time. As a result, she began translating the Zhuan Falun version of 2003. She later discovered that most Indian practitioners read the March 2000 version, and the coordinators said the March 2000 version of Zhuan Falun should be used for the translation. So she began re-translating the book. Hearing this, I was impressed by her “never stop” attitude, and thought, “I’d like to help.” I volunteered to translate the last lectures.
Around 2015, after we completed the translation, practitioners were not satisfied with our efforts. So another practitioner began re-writing for greater clarity. I intervened and advised the practitioner to stop, because it required more time and effort. I proposed either editing the completed translation or that we should translate another book, Falun Gong. As a result, we didn’t divide into groups.
In 2016, I took a couple of months off from work to help bring Shen Yun to India, but this did not materialize. I thought, “Why not use this time to correct the translation?” So I started correcting line by line by comparing the English edition of Zhuan Falun to the Malayalam version. At the time, I was living alone and led a low-key life. My days consisted of translating, feeling lonely, and immense family pressure to find a job. However, when I look back, those were fantastic days. We completed the entire correction within a few months.
In 2016 I resigned from a trending technology-based company, because we hoped to bring Shen Yun to India. But in 2017, I was offered a better opportunity in a large company with a good team environment.
In 2017, we submitted the translation of Zhuan Falun for approval, but there was a roadblock. We hadn’t translated Falun Gong, so the coordinator refused to publish it. We agreed to translate Falun Gong.
I picked up where the other translators left off, and I translated almost every day. Typing in Malayalam was difficult for me. In addition, the technology was lacking. I spent my weekends translating. Again, I continued in solitude—but concentrating for hours can be exhausting and even boring. So during the day, I went to Lalbagh or Cubbon Park and translated.
I wasn’t married at the time, and I lived alone. I hadn’t eliminated all my attachments, so I was distracted when I saw couples or families enjoying a good time. I felt I should be married because I also wanted to start a family.
I hoped that I could find a suitable wife. When I ask my parents to start looking, they always said they would once my older brother was married. I felt I should exercise some mental restraint, so I decided to devote myself to translating.
My attention was also occasionally diverted by better job offers from other companies, for which I had to learn new technology. But, with the help of other translators and other practitioners, I was able to keep a steady mind.
I began typing after I finished translating. By mid-2019, the push for marriage had begun from my family. The family started exploring alliances in the usual arranged marriage manner. The day I finished translating the Falun Gong Question and Answer section was the day that my wife’s family consented to our marriage. It was on International Day of Kindness. We were married in January 2020, followed by a lockdown due to the COVID pandemic.
After I married, I experienced a break in the translation work. The other practitioners encouraged me to be diligent in my cultivation. When I realized how much other practitioners had changed the sentence structure of my translation, it was excruciatingly painful. But I realized these were not my words, but rather Master’s and the Fa. I tried my best not to create conflicts and to adjust my thinking.
Other practitioners and my wife began making corrections and suggestions about my translation. The process of correcting was tedious and difficult. So we decided that some translators would have edit permission and others would have only comment permission. Anyone could make comments, and we evaluated and approved each one before adding it.
I sometimes suspected other translators of not including my comments. In some instances, my understanding was different from that of the co-translator. So we decided that for any correction to be accepted, both parties had to accept the change.
After the review comments from other practitioners were included, we were ready to publish both books by the second half of 2020. This time, we had finished translating Zhuan Falun and Falun Gong. When we submitted them, the coordinator said the formatting was incorrect, and he refused to send the manuscripts to the publishing house until they were corrected. Malayalam contains long words, so certain lines have large spaces between them. My heart broke and I argued with the coordinator. I was depressed and felt that all of my efforts were futile. Re-formatting with an outside vendor would require time and money, and it would need to be proofread for errors.
When I told my wife, she encouraged me to look for other possibilities. I began looking for solutions on the Internet and I miraculously found an “invisible space” character that can be used to break up long words. The space and break are only present at the end of the line, not in the middle of it, so the solution was good.
The format of the book now looked better. Looking back, the coordinator’s suggestion was part of several translation efforts in India and not because he wanted to assert his authority. When I look back now, his feedback made the formatting look tidier. I also realized that I was being lazy, and I didn’t want to put in more effort.
After we got a solution for formatting, I took time to finish it. I spent additional time correcting spelling mistakes that other practitioners pointed out. I spent multiple nights formatting. Because my wife and I practice, we both experienced tribulations, body purification, conflicts, etc. We also had a baby.
Another translator wanted to publish the book quickly for an upcoming book fair, which we had previously attended in 2015 in Kochi. We got so much encouragement from people, as they were asking for a Malayalam language Dafa book, and the practitioner wanted to participate in it.
We had very little time, and I did not like her hurrying attitude. Throughout the translation and correction process, I was super excited, and felt my long-cherished dream was coming true. With her insisting on finishing faster, even though I didn’t feel it was the right approach, I pushed myself to complete formatting and add comments quickly and sent it for printing. Two Malayalam practitioners from overseas helped financially and we got the hard copies printed.
Somehow with the last-minute rush, there was no excitement and no jumping with joy. The translations were completed through grueling years of hard work. I hope others will benefit from reading the translations.
My view is that the Malayalam-speaking population brought world changes through their maritime connections in history. So I believe that the people of Kerala will also embrace Falun Dafa.
When I read the Malayalam version of Zhuan Falun, I made a breakthrough in thinking based on my cultivation state. Master enlightened me with a new understanding, which was similar to reading the English version of Zhuan Falun. I felt like Master was guiding me, even though I read the Malayalam version.
Thank you, Master, for your grace and guidance.