Experience magic of Geet Ramayana in English

Lord Shriram listens in attention
As Kush-Luv sing Ramayan...
Young twins of tender age,
Live statues of the Lord himself
Father's life his sons narrate,
Like lamps in tribute to the Sun!
These are the opening lines of Geet Ramayana, the masterpiece in Marathi literature created by poet G D Madgulkar and composer-singer Sudhir Phadke - which can now be sung in English.Nashik-based industrialist-turn-poet Chandrashekhar Sahastrabuddhe has made this possible by translating all 56 songs of Geet Ramayana in English keeping the original tunes of the song in mind. One can sing the English version of Geet Ramayana following the original compositions of Phadke.
"Neither am I an expert in English language, nor am I a poet. But like thousands of Marathi literature lovers, I am an ardent follower of Geet Ramayana - which is worshipped as the original Valmiki Ramayana in Marathi households even today. As a young engineering student, I had translated some poems of Kusumagraja (V V Shirwadkar) and the poet, who used to be in Nashik those days, had admired my work. This inspired me to translate Geet Ramayana. However, it took me many years to take up the task," recalls Sahastrabuddhe, who owns an engineering industry in Satpur MIDC.
"Initially, it took two years to translate all the 56 songs. But in my second reading, I realised that the translation was not up to the mark. So, I decided to defer the project for some time," he said. It took another 13 years for him to revisit the project in August last year. This time around, the industrialist had ample time, experience and technology too aid him in his unique project.
"Reworking on my previous songs proved fruitful. It was like building a bridge between the two languages," he added. Sahastrabuddhe's wife Rohini, an Eglish professor in a college in Nashik, became his first critic. "She used to suggest me, criticize me and correct me several times. Finally, all the 56 songs were completed by February," Sahastrabuddhe said. His idea was to release the English version online for free and make it available worldwide. However, Nashik's leading publisher Swanand Bedakar insisted that he publish the poems in book format first. The book was published on Saturday.
The book contains the original Marathi poems on the right side of the page and the English translations on the left. Another special feature of the book is the illustrations by internationally acclaimed painter Anand Sonar, who has painted Ramayana in his original 'Indian ornamental' style.
"I understand the translation must stand on its own. But my view was to give the simultaneous access of the original script to those who know Marathi. I followed the same stanza pattern and tried to retain the fluency of the language in my poems. My aim was to translate the content without losing the original flavour and meaning of the poems," Sahastrabuddhe said.
Now that the book has been released, Sahastrabuddhe plans to make it available online for free. His dream is to see someone with good knowledge of Western and Indian music put these songs to music. He believes that these songs have immense potential to be converted into opera.
Prior to this, Geet Ramayana has been translated in nine languages, including English. Retired judge M J Ursekar translated it into English but in Shakespearean style. It is translated by five authors in Hindi, two in Sanskrit and two in Konkani. The literary work was penned between 1955 and 1956. Marathi literature world is celebrating its 60th year this year and the English lyrical version of the book being launched on this occasion is a fortunate coincidence.