Kottayam: In a venue swarming with women delegates at the state convention of Mahila Congress in December 2023, Rahul Gandhi finds two mikes placed at the podium. He has a puzzled look. As he speaks, he fiddles with it, placing one closer and above the other. His translator Soya Joseph, state secretary of Mahila Congress, stands at the far end of the stage. Rahul Gandhi's words are delivered to a thunderous applause. He stresses on women participation. Soya takes the cue. When Gandhi hands over one mike to her, he says ''They have given me two mikes. I need only one''. Soya decides to play to the gallery. ''I am setting a model by giving the extra mike to a woman,'' she translates. Claps follow, exactly as she wants, but soon she would encounter questions over her ability to translate.
For translators like Soya, it's going to be hectic in the next two weeks, so are the risks involved. Campaign heads to the final leg and star campaigners, who are national leaders, will dominate the scene. Language interpreters should also be prepared for some unpleasant aftereffects. An impromptu remark to get the crowd going, a gaffe, a slight improvisation; anything could rebound.
The campaign speeches could also produce instant stars. In 2019, when Gandhi visited the Government Higher Secondary School in Karuvarakkundu, Safa Febin, a Class 12 student translated his speech. Her fluent translation of the five-minute speech was well-received and she captured national attention.
People still identify her as the girl who translated Rahul Gandhi's speech. “Even today I am recognised for that speech. I recently attended a job interview in Bengaluru, where one of the interviewers who was a Malayali identified me,” says Saba who is doing her MSW in Karnataka's capital.
In front of a teeming crowd, the translators navigate the nuances of political rhetoric live. Some of them prepare well, while others rely on their instintcs. Being aligned with the same ideology as the speaker helps a lot, they say.
''Before I translate, I go over the previous speeches of the speaker so I have an idea of what to expect,'' says Jyothi Vijayakumar, who has translated speeches for the Gandhis - Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka. She also keenly watches the body language of the speaker to get the context.
Sajinath, a Kollam CPM area committee member, says he would rather go by his instincts than word by word translation; a trait that requires no more proof than his non-chalant, rib-tickling 'Padmaja poi' (Padmaja left) remark. He told Manorama News that the 44 minute speech of Brinda Karat was politically significant and his clipped version was meant as a satire.
This year, the BJP is using 'Bhashini', an AI-powered tool to translate Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speeches into regional languages. Kerala's seasoned translators are, however, not so enthused.
'' AI works on patterns. Human creativity and emotions may be lost in translation and cannot be conveyed in the desired manner,'' says Jyothi. She recollects a speech by Sonia Gandhi in 2016 in Thiruvananthapuram. ''She spoke about Rajiv Gandhi's death and became emotional. It calls for empathy and understanding in such situations and AI can't match the requirement,'' avers Jyothi.
Sajinath also echoes this. ''AI translation could sound robotic. AI may use polished words and be grammatically perfect, but it is emotionless and can never connect with the audience,'' he says.
