Nandakumar K. started his career as a sub-editor at Financial Express, after completing a Master’s degree in Economics followed by stints in international marketing and general management in India and abroad. Having travelled in over 50 countries, he claims he can speak enough German and French to save his life. He is now an empanelled copy editor with Indian publishers and IIM Ahmedabad. Delhi: A Soliloquy is his first published translation from Malayalam. He lives and works in Dubai. Nandakumar is the grandson of Mahakavi Vallathol Narayana Menon.
Session
Delhi: A Soliloquy
M. Mukundan, Fathima E.V. and Nandakumar K. in conversation with AJ Thomas
Writer and former diplomat M. Mukundan’s acclaimed book, Delhi: A Soliloquy, is an evocative and unflinching look into the lives of Malayali migrants in post partition New Delhi, grappling with the questions of identity, poverty and nostalgia. Co-translated from Malayalam to English by Fathima E.V. and Nandakumar K., the book is an ode to Delhi and its deeply imbibed spirit of survival in times of war and peace. Mukundan worked in Delhi for forty years as a Cultural Attaché at the French Embassy. His award-winning books include On the Banks of the Mayyazhi and Kesavan’s Lamentations. Award-winning writer and translator E.V. Fathima has translated Subhash Chandran’s Manushyanu Oru Amukham as A Preface to Man. She was the translator-editor of the Indian Ink Mag. This book is Editor and Translator Nandakumar K’s first published translation from Malayalam. In a conversation with AJ Thomas, they explore the roots of this Malayalam classic and the process of its translation.