It is a tough task to shortlist and make a final selection out of the books published in two dozen languages. I have a fairly good idea of worthy books published in Telugu (my mother tongue), Bengali (through translations by Chakrapani and Sivaramakrishna which were serialised in Telugu magazines), Hindi (competent translation work by Pichcheswar Rao, Laxmareddi). Tagore, Bankimchandra,Sharathchandra, Maniklal Bandopadhyaya, Tarashankar Banerjee and Banaphool, from Bengali literature, Premchand, Nirala and Harivansh Rai Bachchan are familiar figures due to availability of translations. The quality of Kannada book translations is poor, Tamil fares slightly better. Telugu readers are exposed to contemporary literature in Indian languages by magazines like Vipula and national programmes of AIR and Doordarshan. However, the amount of translation work now being available is just a drop in the ocean to make the JCB undertaking a realistic venture. I appreciate that Rs.one lakh will be awarded to all those who are shortlisted.
