The eminent pediatrician Dr. Atul Debbarma and BJP legislator translate Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali into Kokborok language. The transcript was launched on Tuesday, in Agartala.
The Kokborok translation has made an appearance almost a decade after translating Tagore’s sensational work into the Chakma dialect using the Bengali script
Kokborok is spoken by most of the tribes in the region.
The translated version of Gitanjali – Tripura Sati Ishiri Jayabati – was released by education minister Ratan Lal Nath on Tuesday here at an uncomplicated function.
The minister said the book would assist Kokborok-speaking people in knowing about Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s work while extolling the endeavors of Dr. Debbarma in highlighting the nuances of a language spoken by 31% of the population of Tripura.
“The initiatives have been taken so that students can learn KoKBorok as a subject, which has been studied by students of classes I to VIII in 1,244 schools, students of classes IX- X in 101 schools and Class XII students in 42 schools at present,” Nath said.
As many as 14 Postgraduate teachers for Kokborok have been given appointment in June while a process for recruitment of 22 assistants professors (Kokborok) for colleges is already afoot. The Tripura Public Service Commission would administer the examination on September 14, he said.
However, Dr Debbarma said he started translating the book in 2007-2008 ; there are 257 poems in the book and his endeavours were aimed at popularizing the language and extending the purview for indagation.