230 million potential readers

Mridula Ghosh, Board Chair, East European Development Institute, India’s human rights activist, political analyst, historian versed in international relations, says this translation from the Ukrainian into Bengali has taken years of painstaking work (she started on it in 1992 and finished in August 2011). Now readers who speak and read Bengali (over 230 million) can enjoy this Ukrainian literary classic. While a hard copy is being prepared for publication in India, a CD soft copy has become available in Ukraine. It includes Mridula Ghosh’s foreword in Ukrainian and English, the Bengali text, photos, notes, and articles by the prominent orientalist, Merited Worker of Culture Olena Ohnieva. The latter analyzes the impact of the old Indian cultural heritage – particularly the Rigveda [an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns. – Ed.] – on Lesia Ukrainka’s characters, considering that at one time she started translating the Rigveda into Ukrainian. The illustrations belong to the Merited Artist of Ukraine, Yurii Kamyshny (his Ukrainian and Indian landscapes are remarkable, considering his frequent creative inspirational trips to India). The launch of the CD version in Kyiv took place in an atmosphere of harmony between Ukrainian and Indian cultures. The soiree started with the musician, Larysa Boiko, performing a composition, playing the Ukrainian sopilka and an Indian flute. Another Ukrainian musician, Oleksii Kabanov, played an evening raga on the esraj, Rabindranath Tagore’s favorite string instrument.

The launch of Mridula Ghosh’s Bengali version of Lesia Ukrainka’s The Forest Song in Kyiv turned out to be symbolic, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Ukraine and the Republic of India.