- Rajasthani is the umbrella term used for all the dialects and languages spoken in the northwestern Indian state of Rajasthan
- Rajasthani is not recognized as an official language in the Indian Constitution, and thus all administrative work is done in Hindi.
An Interview with Vishes Kothari, on translating the Rajasthani author Vijaydan Detha, founding a language school to preserve his mother tongue, and turning translation into activism.
By Suhasini Patni
Vishes Kothari is the translator of The Timeless Tales of Marwar and A Garden of Tales by Vijaydan Detha, one of India’s most prominent Rajasthani writers. Kothari has always viewed the act of translation as activism and has spoken publicly about the lack of Rajasthani language usage in urban spaces. In an interview with Scroll, he stated, “Young people who otherwise come from Rajasthani-speaking homes—seem completely brainwashed into using Hindi, as if Rajasthani isn’t a language worthy of being spoken by educated, urbane young people.” In bringing the orality of Detha’s stories from Rajasthani into English, Kothari has not only introduced a literary giant to an international anglophone audience but has also taken a step toward the preservation of a language that many are choosing to no longer speak.
Rajasthani is the umbrella term used for all the dialects and languages spoken in the northwestern Indian state of Rajasthan. Politically, Rajasthan has been one of the most prominent states of the so-called “Hindi belt” of North India, despite most of its rural population being unable to speak the Hindi language. Rajasthani is not recognized as an official language in the Indian Constitution, and thus all administrative work is done in Hindi. The census often conflates Rajasthani with Hindi, so there are no real reports on the number of native speakers of Rajasthani. There is also no mother-tongue education available for those hoping to connect with the language.
Younger speakers from the Rajasthan Yuva Samiti have been protesting for the inclusion of Rajasthani under the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, which would grant it official status. However, while national recognition still has a ways to go, Vishes Kothari has been working toward preserving and propagating the language through the Rajasthani Bhasha Academy, an online Rajasthani course he developed with Professor Ganesh Devy and Professor Dalpat Rajpurohit.
In this interview, conducted over Zoom and email, Kothari tells us about his efforts to revitalize Rajasthani through his language academy and through literary translation.
