Bhubaneswar, Aug. 10: Translation of literary works serve as a window to the outside world, said translator Jatindra Kumar Nayak while delivering the second Ganeswar Mishra memorial lecture at Buddha Mandir here yesterday.

At the programme organised by socio-cultural organisation Sateertha to commemorate the second death anniversary of eminent litterateur Ganeswar Mishra, Nayak said: "Translation is like a window because it helps us connect with the world beyond us and also brings the outside world to us."

Two books, Srujana Samagra Part 3 (collection of Ganeswar Mishra's short stories) and Satarathi Bhoota Gapa (collection of 17 ghost stories), authored by Ganeswar Mishra were released on the occasion.

Authors Shantanu Acharya, Adhyapak Biswaranjan and Biraj Mohan Das did the honours along with Nayak. Sculptor Rabi Rath presented a sculpture of Mishra made by him to the latter's family.

Nayak highlighted Mishra's contribution to the field of translation and said he always took keen interest in translation because it enriched Odia literature and helped export Odisha and its literary works to outsiders. Nayak said Mishra's effort to include translation as a special paper at the postgraduate level in Utkal University in the 1970s was commendable because no other university in India had offered it till then.

"Translation from Odia to English and other languages is as important as translation of literary texts in English and other languages to Odia," he said.

Biswaranjan said Mishra's writing was free from western influence and he had devised a new kind of English usage rooted in Indian culture, full of " anubhuti" (sympathy) and "anubhava" (feelings).

"He wrote about himself, he wrote about his times," he said, praising Mishra's lucid writing style.

Acharya appreciated Mishra's concise style of writing and underscored the need to popularise Odia literature within the state as well as translation important works in Odia for non-Odia readers.