Author Vijay Singh's critically acclaimed Jaya Ganga translated into Hindi, four decades after publication

Critically acclaimed novel Jaya Ganga by Paris-based Indian writer, film maker Vijay Singh is now available in Hindi, announced publishing house Rajkamal Prakashan on 29 June. The travelogue-novel, first published in French in 1985, is translated into Hindi by the noted Hindi poet and writer, the late Manglesh Dabral. Its Hindi edition is published by Rajkamal Prakashan with the support of the French Institute in India. Written in an autobiographical style, it explores the life of a young Indian from Paris journeying the Ganges and the emotions its magnificence had stirred in him. The book was later also adapted into a film by Singh, released in India and France in 1997 and 1998, respectively. Jaya Ganga being translated into Hindi represents the completion of a cycle and a perfect example of cross fertilisation between Indian and French cultures. Vijay Singh masters many universes and is an outstanding driving force in cultural exchanges. The French Government is enthusiastic about this project and supports it fully. I have no doubt it will bring delight to many Hindi speakers, said Emmanuel Lenain, Ambassador of France to India. The 69-year-old author has paid a moving tribute to Dabral, who succumbed to coronavirus in 2020 soon after finishing the translation of the book. “I had never met him… He was only a voice to me, a telephone voice that came into my life just before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. But this was also the voice that I exchanged with for hours and hours over 2020, and we spoke of virtually everything under the sun - love, life, death, poetry, music, rivers, mountains,” writes Singh in the book. “This voice belonged to Mangalesh Dabral, who is no more today. Sadly, his voice will forever remain a voice to me. Alvida, Mangaleshji, and please accept my sincerest thanks for the painstaking dedication and complicity with which you translated this book into Hindi,” he added. The book’s English edition, which was first released in 1989 in India, will be re-issued shortly by publishing house Rupa.