Bridging Languages: The Power of Translation

The Himalayan forests determine the well-being of India’s Northern Plains. Scholar, traveller, and activist Shekhar Pathak’s important book The Chipko Movement: A People’s  History has been rendered in English by translator and publisher Manisha Chaudhry. It tells the story of how local communities in Kumaon and Garhwal, especially the women, resisted forest felling by loggers. Relying on extensive research and primary sources, it documents the antecedents, the inspiration and the impact of this transformative movement in its grassroots context. Edited and with an introduction by historian and public intellectual Ramachandra Guha, the narrative also bears witness to the deep friendship and understanding between Pathak and Guha, two men who share so little and so much. In a deep and insightful discussion, they speak with writer and academic Mukul Sharma about the book and its backstories.