A lab for language, poetry & ideas
Kannada · Hindi · English
Poetry carried across
from one tongue to another.
by a Polymer Engineer who couldn’t stop wondering what survives translation.
A growing archive of my English translations — verse, prose and commentary, always shown beside the original padya, gadya and bhashya.
The Lab
Experiment register
- 01Translating Bendre & other Kannada poetry47 works
- 02Deciphering Manku Timmana Kagga in English396 Kaggas
- 03The 108-character Gita experiment3 Adhyayas
- 04What happens to a Vachana in translation30 Vachanas
- 05Carrying Kannada prose across into English3 works
- 06Notes & reflections, set down as they come16 blogs
- 07How does a culturally rooted emotion transcend languages2 works
Selection of the day
Kagga 156
D. V. Gundappa · from the Kannada original
tOyisuta bEyisuta hechchutta kochchutta kAyisuta kariyuta huriyuta suDuta
The Creator while infusing energy within man also tests him continually thereby inspiring him to evolve his thoughts
Man during the course of his life in this Universe is subjected to hardships, challenges, difficulties & other such conflicting situations
As man strives to resolve all of these challenges, it appears as though Providence is a Chef and he is subjecting man’s body & soul through gruelling techniques testing him
Mankutimma, realise that you cannot escape this reality. As you pass through your life on earth, you have to experience these difficulties, learn how to resolve the challenges & come out as a stronger person. It is no use just blaming the Creator or Providence & sitting on your haunches…you need to understand & accept that these are tests posed by the Creator to help you evolve into a better human being…so surrender to Him & don’t fight Him…fight the challenges, introspect, deliberate & determine the best way to come out as a stronger man
Fresh from The Lab
See what’s new →The Poetry Lab is a living website. New poetry, translations, reflections and experiments are added regularly.
Notes on method
Why does a polymer engineer run a poetry lab?
Because I’ve always been fascinated by what happens when something moves from one medium to another.
In engineering, we study transformation. In translation, we do something strangely similar.
Every translation here is an experiment: a hypothesis about what poetry can become in another language.
Some experiments fail. Others reveal something the original could not say on its own.
Catalogue of the collection
01Poetry— modern voices
02Manku Timmana Kagga— 945 verses on life's absurdity
03Bhagavad Gita— one adhyaya at a time
04Vachanas— 12th-century plain speech
05Prose— longer reading
06Blogs— notes as they come
07The OG Voices— the people behind the lines
I am Krishna Joshi — a Polymer Engineer by trade, a barefoot runner, and a reader of Kannada literature and Indian history.
More about me and this site →