Jyothi Natarajan’s translation of Hasuru Honnu is a happy blend of science, satire and culture  

GL Swamy’s mind was set on research, says Jyothi Natarajan, who has translated his popular work, Hasuru Honnu for English readers

Writer BGL Swamy, son of Kannada litterateur DV Gundappa often said, ‘When green is considered gold, everything will be fine with the world.’ Jyothi Natarajan (wife of K Natarajan, DV Gudappa’s grandson) has translated BGL Swamy’s Hasuru Honnu (When Green is Gold) and the title was recently released.

“It took me two years to complete the translation, as the book is a serious study of plants, the environment and culture packaged in a light-hearted way. It was relevant nearly five decades ago and remains pertinent and a must-read even now,” says Jyothi. 

DV Gundappa (popularly known as DVG) and BGL Swamy were an unusual father-and-son duo with regard to their contributions to Kannada literature — both in the assortment and intensity of content they offered. During DVG’s 125th birth anniversary, prominent playwright, poet and Jnanpith Awardee Chandrashekhara Kambara observed, “Both father and son have been recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award, which is a rarity in itself. Hasuru Honnu is one of Swamy’s most popular works that won him this prestigious honour.” 

Interweaving humour with storytelling was Swamy’s forte. His works pertained to botany, history, travel and satire reflecting the social life of our times. Encouraged by AR Krishnasastry, Swamy started writing as early as 1939-40 for Prabuddha Karnataka, a quarterly of the Mysore University, which Krishnasastry edited.

Jyothi was born in 1950 in Tumkur, and grew up listening to her grandfather’s stories. Residing in Bengaluru since the 1960s, she remembers her teachers — P Lankesh, OK Nambiar, B Chandrashekar and Bharatraj Singh — who inspired her while she pursued a Masters in English Literature. After a PG Diploma in Journalism, she worked as a lecturer for nearly three decades, often freelancing with mainstream media too.

“By the time I married into the family in 1975, DVG had passed away, and I missed interacting with the great man. Swamy and his siblings were highly educated and I was in awe of them. My dreams of being a creative writer fanned out in other ways, such as translating Swamy’s creative ideas ,” says Jyothi.

The idea to translate Hasuru Honnu occurred to Jyothi when she was homebound during the pandemic. “I needed to escape into a healthy, lively world where life was fun and adventurous. With the book, I could let myself be carried over difficult terrain into forests with a bunch of vivacious, post-graduate botany students and their enthusiastic professor. They trudge along, fall, pick themselves up, and tease each other as they follow their teacher.”