Jamshedpur, June 14: The dynasty is set to go ethnic. Santhali children can take a peek into the Nehru-Gandhi history and the relationship between an illustrious father and a firebrand daughter through Jawaharlal Nehru’s letters to Indira Gandhi penned while he was in Allahabad jail during the freedom struggle.

The original letters to young Indira, who was then at Shimla, is also available in English and other regional languages. It is being translated into Santhali by Digambar Hansda, a city-based Santhali scholar.

Former principal of Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial College, Hansda translated NCERT textbooks in Santhali and a Hindi-to- Santhali guide.

He has been assigned the translation work of all the 26 letters of Nehru in Santhali by the Children’s Book Trust to promote the language among children. The trust believes that this will also help make Santhali children aware of the country’s glorious past and the sweet relationship between a father and a daughter, the scholar said. “At present, there are very few good children’s books available in Santhali. This is one of the reasons why even after the language was included in the Eighth Schedule, very few children from Santhali families were opting for it as the medium of instruction at the primary level,” Hansda said.

The project to translate Nehru’s letters to Indira is an initiative to provide interesting reading material to Santhali children, Hansda told The Telegraph. “I personally believe that this book will help bridge the this gap at least to some extent even if not completely.” The translation work has already started and will be completed in the next couple of months. He informed that every precaution is being taken to ensure that the ethos does not get diluted. “After I complete the translation I will circulate the manuscript among some other scholars, who have knowledge of both English and Santhali so that there are no factual errors in the book after it gets published,” Hansda said.

Apart from those living in the state, Santhali children brought up in other states and neighbouring countries, who are not aware of the rich tribal culture, might also get interested in learning the language.

“After children living outside Jharkhand and in neighbouring countries learn to read Santhali, they will like to delve deeper into it. This will help take Santhali to the masses,” he added.