BHARATI PAWASKAR
Ramayan has always been looked at as an inspiring story of our glorious past where the historical figures, Rama and Sita are revered as the avatars of Lord Vishnu and Goddess Lakshmi. Penned in multiple languages by many writers and poets in this land of the sages and rishis, the great epic has been mesmerising Indian minds for thousands of years.
Written by late G D Madgulkar (aka Ga-Di-Ma) and composed by late Sudhir Phadke (aka Babuji), ‘Geet Ramayan’ is called the ‘milestone of Marathi light music’ and the ‘most popular’ Marathi version of Ramayan. It would be a truly historical moment for Goans when the Hindi version of this popular Marathi ‘Geet Ramayan’ will be available in book as well as audio CD form soon.
Translated in Hindi by noted Goan poet Dattaprasad Jog the book and the audio will be released before this year’s calendar turns its leaf. “This year being the birth centenary year of both, the writer Ga-Di-Ma and the composer, Babuji, we have planned this release in 2018. The pre-publication programme of held on October 2 in Mapusa,” briefs Dattaprasad, an employee with the department of agriculture in Goa government. Known for his poetry writing, Dattaprasad who has penned two books, has bagged B B Borkar award and Kavi Yashwant Puraskar.
The pre-publication programme was organised by Shri Sangram Ganesh Ganeshotsava Samiti at Ganesh Mandir in Ganeshpuri wherein Prathamesh Creations and Dreamunique Studio presented Geet Ramayan (Hindi). In it, Chinmay Kolhatkar -and Kishor Bhave, both sang few of the Hindi songs of ‘Geet Ramayan’ while Balkrishna Mest played the synthesizer and Satish Hegde played table putting life into the show and allowing the audience to go with the flow.
“The caricatures in my book are drawn by Govind Naik (Dombivli) and the credit for the cover and calligraphy goes to Nilesh Gaidhani of Nasik. The Audio production team has been that of Chinmay Kolhatkar who has done the music arrangement and singing too. Kishor Bhave has also lent his voice for the singing of the songs in Geet Ramayan. The recording of the audio CD is done by Sanjay Dandekar at Dream Unique Studio in Ponda,” maintains Dattaprasad who is thankful to his committed team who was equally involved in the project.
Admitting that many have translated ‘Geet Ramayan’ in different languages, Dattaprasad observes, “Ours is the fifth Hindi translation and if you ask me what was the need to go for translation again when already four versions were ready, let me tell you that I have tried to include the perfect emotions, the flow and the rhythm that the original Marathi version has and believe me, it took me 14 years to arrive to a satisfactory translation which can be sang in the same rhythm and ragas that the original one is composed in. It was a meticulous and tedious task but worth doing and I enjoyed it truly.”
Sticking to the central theme of the original ‘Geet Ramayan’, Dattaprasad has taken sincere efforts to retain the flavour and not tried to compromise anywhere with words, rhythm or context. Admitting that at some places he took liberty while translating as word-to-word translation would look inappropriate. The grammar and spellings in both these languages (Marathi and Hindi) vary and so the same pronunciation is not possible. But the central idea has been retained to a large extent and even Ga-Di-Ma’s son, Shridhar Madgulkar has approved and appreciated my effort.
In a letter written earlier this year to the chief minister of Goa, Manohar Parrikar, Shridhar Madgulkar of GADIMA Pratisthan, Pune approves Dattaprasad’s work. In his letter Shridhar mentions, “Poet, songwriter Dattaprasad Jog’s translation work on Geet Ramayan has been of utmost quality with regard to the style of language and content. It was late Sitakant Lad, a Goan friend of late Ga-Di-Ma who had inspired the creation of Geet Ramayan 65 years ago. It’s a coincidence that one more time a Goan has offered his services to this legendary epic and has opened a door for the Hindi speaking brethren of India to enjoy it in audio form. Goa is getting the opportunity to spread Geet Ramayan in Hindi to the whole of India. Since 2018 is the birth centenary year of both, my father (G D Madgulkar) and Babuji (Sudhir Phadke), this translation would serve as an appropriate tribute to them when published.”
“Most of the bookwork is completed while the recording, mastering, mixing of the music track for the audio CD is being done every week. No financial support has been accepted from anyone, as yet and we are spending from our own pockets, hurrying to release the book and the audio before the turn of this year, though we would take every care to fulfil the legal formalities before making our final products public,” states a happy Dattaprasad who has fulfilled the tedious task of translation in 14 years, the same period of time that Rama spent in exile in the forests. “It’s our tribute to lord Rama,” he concludes.
