Lost in Translation

With sweat beading on his forehead, Akram sat on a rigid chair in an examination hall, tapping his pencil on the side of the table in nervousness while impatiently waiting for the invigilator to hand out the examination paper. His mind running in circles with just one single thought on his mind, he must pass this exam as this is the only hurdle that’s keeping him from achieving his dreams.

Before we move forward, let me quickly introduce Akram. Akram comes from a poor family and lived in an insignificant town of Pakistan. He has always dreamt of moving out of his small town to a bigger city. One of the many impediments he had to face was the language barrier. In big cities to find decent employment, you must have the ability to read and write English. In the hopes of fulfilling his ambition and frustrated with the inadequacy of the school’s curriculum and its incompetent teachers, Akram decided to go against his father’s will to sell his bicycle, just so he could afford a private tutor.

Now sitting in the exam hall, he is reliving and contemplating the conversation he had with his father just before he stormed out of the house in exasperation.

“What do you expect to achieve from all this ordeal you are going through. Nobody in our family has ever worked in an office. We are and always will be farmers. All that is expected of you is to take the produce and sell it to our neighbouring villages on your ridiculous bicycle.” Akram’s dad yelled at him in frustration.

Akram had his head tilted down for the entire time while he was being scolded, staring at his dirty feet, and thinking of ways to tell his dad that he has already sold the bicycle that provides for his family. Finally, he plucks up the courage and says, “Dad, please don’t get mad but there is something I have to tell you. I have already sold the bicycle and used the money to pay off my tuition. If you can just put a little faith in me, I can get our family out of this state of poverty. We don’t have to wake up every day worrying where our next meal is coming from.”

As soon as these words came out of his mouth, he saw his dad’s face going pale. He was furious with him. He gave Akram the most helpless and anguished look and left the room without saying a word. The expression on his dad’s face was enough for Akram to feel devastated.

As the night approached and everyone went to bed, Akram packed his luggage planning his escape without any further drama, and at the crack of dawn went to the bus stop to catch the first bus out of that dusty small town.

Now as he sat, pondering over his actions he feels disheartened and discouraged. He is not ready for this and as this feeling passes over him, his heart sinks.

Somewhere in a distance a bell rang, indicating that the exam has commenced. Looking at his desk he sees the paper which seems to have materialized out of thin air, having not noticed the invigilator placing it on his desk. Sighing deeply, he flipped the pages and read the first question.

It was a sentence in his native language Urdu and the task required him to translate that statement into English. Akram read the first line which stated:

“دو بیل لڑ رہے تھے اور میری قمیض تار تار ہوگئ”

It was a simple sentence and anyone with a basic grasp of the English language would have translated it as: Two raging bulls were fighting, and my shirt got torn into pieces.”

For Akram, who was already profusely sweating and getting more nervous by the minute, forgot almost everything that his teacher taught. But determined to answer every question, he scribbled down these words: “Two husbands of cow were fighting together, and my shirt got wired wired.”

Feeling a bit confident now at his English prowess, he sketched a small picture of two raging bulls and carried on answering the rest of the questions.

Since the results were to be announced in a week’s time and with no intention of going back home, he decided to stay at his friend’s house. But something transpired that Akram could never have anticipated. The next day the headmaster called and asked if he could speak to Akram.

Timidly Akram answered the phone, “Hello Sir, you wanted to speak to me.”

“Yes, Akram. I would like you to come to my office tomorrow morning. I have a few things to discuss regarding your English assessment.”, said the headmaster.

“Sure, sir I will.”, that’s all he could manage to articulate as his throat tightened up. He could only think of two reasons that made the headmaster call him personally. Either he has failed miserably or maybe he was in trouble because of the picture he drew. He could feel his insides turning into lead.

The next day, he put on his best attire and headed out to face his fate. When he reached school, the receptionist asked him to wait in the hallway outside the headmaster’s office. As he stood there, he could hear people talking, and occasionally he could hear his own name. His head began to swirl with numerous thoughts; this is crazy, how bad could I have been, and the picture was merely a joke. As he was picturing all sorts of consequences he might have to suffer through, with each scenario getting worse by the minute, a door opens and a smartly dressed lady asks him to step into the office.

When he stepped in, the first thing he noticed was the two well-dressed elderly men sitting across from the headmaster. The conversation stopped and all heads turned towards Akram. The headmaster gestured him to move closer. “Please take a seat, Akram.”

Akram nodded and sat down in one of the less comfortable chairs. He could hear his heart thumping inside his chest.

“I believe you must be wondering why you were asked to come in today.” He addressed Akram with a meaningful look. “First let me introduce you to these two gentlemen here. This is the mayor of our city Mr. Jamal and sitting beside him is his deputy Mr. Usman, they are here on behalf of the City Council.”

With panic rising in his chest, Akram’s eyes blurred with tears, he wanted to apologize for his misdemeanour, if any. But he couldn’t make a sound.

Watching his emotional state, the headmaster stood up, crossed the room, and sat beside him. “Akram, you do not need to be frightened or get nervous. They are not here to punish you.” He said with a calming look on his face. “They have come to reward you.”

The last sentence caught Akram by surprize, he looked up in disbelief. “They are here to reward me. But for what Sir? I don’t think I deserve any rewards, especially not for my English at least.” he blurted.

“Well, that is your opinion my boy. But our mayor Mr. Jamal read your translations and enjoyed them immensely. So much so that he has decided to award you with a cash prize worth twenty thousand rupees.” the headmaster said with an approving smile on his face. “Your translations were not accurate but where they lacked in correctness, they made up for it by being comical and demonstrated your willingness to complete your task. I, on the other hand, was impressed by how well you drew. Coincidentally, we are currently looking for a teacher with somewhat similar talent. Will you be interested in joining the school as an art teacher?”

Akram stared at the smiling faces looking at him, dumbfounded by what he has just heard, he tried to speak, but nothing came out. He couldn’t believe his luck. Was he being given a cash prize and offered a job at the same time? As it dawned on him that this is not a facade, a sense of relief washed over him. Wiping his tears from the back of his sleeve he tremulously said; “I have never in my wildest dream imagined this outcome. Yes Sir, I would love to work at the school.” He then turned to face the mayor. “I am absolutely gracious for your generosity Sir. I am glad what I wrote amused you.”

Akram shook hands with everyone and thanked them repeatedly for their compassion. He was ecstatic. He knew this is just the start of a better life and he will keep working on his skills and his English.

Thus started a new chapter for Akram and his family.