Translation of world classic ‘Siddhartha’ enriches Pashto literature

PESHAWAR: The celebrated novel ‘Siddhartha’ by a German poet and fictionist Herman Hesse (1877-1962) was recently rendered into Pashto, which acclaimed widespread appreciation by literary circles owing to its fluency and aptness.

The Pashto translation of Siddhartha in Pashto has already hit the bookstalls of Pashto and demand for its copy has been rising since it came out of the press in Peshawar last week.

Writers and critics have already billed the translation of Siddhartha in Pashto a great source of motivation for budding literati. ‘Siddhartha’ is not just a Pashto rendition of a world classic but incorporating of a wonderful story of self-exploration to a land and people who had already owned it.

The story narrates the soulful journey of a young handsome Brahman Hindu boy who sets out to search for the truth and enlightenment as he leaves behind all kinds of princely home comforts and Siddhartha’s in his long journey comes to know that Nirvana cannot only be achieved by teachings unless one searched it through self-exploration.

Shaheen Buneri, a Czech-based journalist and Pashto poet has translated ‘Siddhartha’ into Pashto and enriched its literary corpus.

Published under the auspices of Mafkoora, a private Research and Development centre, Siddhartha’s Pashto version was well-received by literary critics and research scholars as it really enriched Pashto literary treasure trove.

Spread over 148 pages, Siddhartha is divided into 12 chapters so that the readers could well-understand the spiritual journey of a restless soul through several challenges and also it makes it clear that the central point of the story is that knowledge could be transferred to others but not the wisdom because it requires personal efforts to achieve it.

The second theme of the plot is that love occupies the highest status compared to knowledge and wisdom because love binds together the entire humanity in its fold.

The translator has used very simple language and mentioned necessary terms and expressions alongside to make further easier for the common readers. Translation of Siddhartha into major languages had begun since first English version of the novel had come out in 1951 in the US.

Hayat Roghani, chief of the Mafkoora organization, in his comment says that translation of the sublime literary pieces from world classics greatly benefited other cultures as it brought along new ideas and concepts, adding that Shaheen Buneri did a commendable job by rendering Siddhartha into Pashto.