"It was a wonderful experience interacting with you and appreciate the way you have planned and executed the whole publication process within the agreed timelines.”
Subrat SaurabhAuthor of Kuch Woh Pal
Kabir and Rahim occupy an important position among those who have shaped the popular culture in India. The fact that many of Kabir’s compositions form part of the Adi Granth, the Sacred Book of the Sikhs, is evidence to the extent of his appeal. Doha, meaning a two-lined rimed couplet, was a favourite format of Kabir and other poets. Their couplets have acquired the status of proverbs, quoted in the Hindi-belt a hundred times every day in conversations at home and in the street. Fifty-one such popular couplets, published earlier in 1986, are presented in this diglot edition, where the attempt is not just to translate but to trans-create the doha in English.
“The Dohavali versions are excellent!”- P. Lal, Poet, Translator and Editor
“I have not come across any sincere transcreations (of Kabir’s dohas) than yours. I go by the ear. And your renderings do bring over the dhvani of the originals.” - Mulk Raj Anand, Novelist
K.S. RAM
K.S. Ram studied in King George’s School, Ajmer. He graduated in English (Major), winning the Karnatak University Gold Medal in 1974, and did M.A in English from the University of Mysore. He has translated Adi Shankaracharya’s Bhaja Govindam and Sri Annapoorna Stotra into English (2016). His translation of Kabir’s dohas into English won appreciation from the Sahitya Academy, New Delhi. He is the author of Bastar and Miscellaneous Poems (NotionPress, 2019). He and his wife, Dr. Uma Ram, write regularly for the Speaking Tree of The Times of India. They have also jointly authored Tribal Songs, Ballads and Oral Epics of Bastar (2012), a critical study. The earlier version of these dohas was published by Writers Workshop, Kolkata (1986).
