Team Blitz India
LONDON: Bharati Pankaj’s book ‘Identity Poems’ was launched by Lord Professor Bhikhu Parekh, at Britain’s House of Lords on October 25. The book contains Bharati’s 100 Gujarati poems translated into English by Dr. Adam Tankarvi.
Welcoming the participants, Lord Parekh spoke about the importance of identity and multiculturalism. He also cited with examples the difficulties of translating from one language to another.
Bharati Pankaj recited some of her poems about diaspora feelings, female sensibility, and her life partner Pankaj Vora.
Professor Emeritus Dr. Menski talked about the reflections of inter-cultural sensibility in Bharati’s poems. Lord Navnit Dholakia congratulated Bharati and praised the efforts made to preserve the Gujarati language.
Dr. Tankarvi dwelt on the difficulties of translating from one language into another. But, he said, if we want to pass our literary heritage to the future generations, translation is the most practical option as the younger generation born in the UK struggles to read and speak Gujarati.
CB Patel of Gujarat Samachar could not attend the event and the newspaper was represented by Jyotsanaben Shah. A panel discussion was also held on the occasion.
Bharati’s granddaughter Serena Doshi thanked Lord Parekh for hosting the event and the participants for their contributions to the discussion.
