The chief guest on the occasion, Hans Jacob Frydenlund, Ambassador of Norway to India & Vani Tripathi Tikko, actor, politician and Member of Central Board of Film Certification handed over the award to Rakhshanda Jalil.
The jury for the award Namita Gokhale, Neeta Gupta, and Sundeep Bhutoria were also present at the ceremony. The award recognises translators who have produced a significant literary corpus over an extended period of time by developing a literary and linguistic relation between at least two Indian languages.
The Award includes Rs 1 lakh and Vani Foundation's mark of honour.
Rakhshanda Jalil is a writer, translator and literary historian who has written over 25 books and over 50 academic papers and essays. Her book on the lesser-known monuments of Delhi, 'Invisible City' continues to be a bestseller.
Announcing the award, Frydenlund, said, 'For Norway, translations, and excellent translators are crucial. It is therefore valuable for us to be part of this prestigious award. It encourages translators of the future while acknowledging great translators of the present. I congratulate the winner with the hope of more inter-language exchanges via translations in the future.
Rakhshanda Jalil on receiving the award said, "It's a matter of great pride and honour to receive the Vani Distinguished Translator Award from such an eminent jury. My first translation, a collection of short stories by Premchand was published in 1992; it has been a long enriching journey since then. It is heartening to see translation finding spaces and getting accolades at various literary platforms across the country and publishers have a great role to play in this."
Congratulating the winner, Namita Gokhale, founder and co-director of Jaipur Literature Festival said, "Rakhshanda Jalil is one of our most talented, committed, engaged writer and translator. Her range of the translation is very wide, from the Urdu women writer to Phanishwar Nath 'Renu', her perspectives on Indian literature in Hindi, Urdu, Hindustani and her very original insights are very valuable to the larger corpus of Indian literary understanding."
Neeta Gupta, Director of Jaipur BookMark said, "Translation remains our top priority at the 7th edition of Jaipur BookMark. We have sessions focused translation, along with launching Norwegian playwright Ibsen's plays in Hindi and we announce two coveted translation awards, the Vani Foundation Distinguished Translator Award and the Romain Rolland prize for Translations."
Arun Maheshwari, Director of Vani Foundation, said, "Translation is the only medium of dialogue between the world's civilizations and cultures. The interaction between Indian civilization, Indian culture and the languages of India and walking in step with languages of the world are important. The same promotes our civilization, culture, and art. The translation is just and the only medium of development of languages."
( With inputs from IANS )