Darjeeling, March 23: Bhanu Chhetri may have permanently lost his eyesight, but the diminutive writer has proved that passion and unflinching determination can help overcome all odds.
The 44-year-old has bagged the prestigious Sahitya Academy Award by translating a Telugu epic into Nepali, all without reading a single line from the original work.
?I was in touch with Seshendra Sharma, the writer of the epic Nar Dashum Na Prajuat, and when I went to Hyderabad for treatment in 1998, met him personally. I was deeply influenced by his work,? Chhetri said.
The writer believes that Sharma?s work has defied the classical definition of epic and ?exploded? the myth of progressive literature.
?Epics have always revolved around kings and victors, but this is about the aspirations of common people. It talks about the value of one?s land and strikes a chord. Also, progressive literature is thought to be written mostly on communist ideology, but those myths have been shattered,? said Chhetri.
?I can?t read, so my wife, Dwarika Chhetri, neighbour Karma Doma Bhutia and staff members of the post office here would read out passages from the English translation of Sharma?s work, My Country, My People. Since Sharma translated the work himself, the essence was not lost,? he added
Chhetri said he would listen to the passages from the novel and translate them verbally for others to pen.
The Nepali version, Mero Desh Mera Mancha Haru, was published in 2001 and has now been conferred with the award, which Chhetri will receive in New Delhi on August 23.
For the writer, however, the award comes only as a consolation.
?I suffer from retinitis pigmentosa and it is incurable. I still buy books, but often feel like a man who can just sit beside a river when thirsty but cannot drink any water from it. I want to read books, but have to rely on someone else to read it out to me,? he rued.
?Had I been normal, I feel I could have done so much more,? he added.
Chhetri has also worked as editor of literary magazines like Kalash and Munal.
