Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu on Wednesday released books on the biography of Mahatma Gandhi, translated into five Arunachalee dialects on the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
‘Picture Gandhi’, the best-selling book for children on Mahatma Gandhi, has been translated into Arunachalee dialects Adi, Nyishi, Apatani, Mishimi and Nocte.
The translated version of the book in Assam’s Bodo language was also released on the occasion by Khandu.
‘Picture Gandhi’, originally written in English by award winning writer Sandhya Rao, was published in 2007 by independent multi-lingual Chennai-based publishing house Tulika Books.
Also read: Indian Embassy unveils Mahatma Gandhi’s statue at Kathmandu on his 150th birthday
Chief minister Pema Khandu released the books during a programme organized at IG Park in Itanagar.
Khandu also felicitated all the six translators from 6 different tribes from Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.
According to reports, Mishimi dialect had been in oral form and the script for this dialect was developed only in February last year.
Also read: Nagaland: Little Gandhis meet Gandhian Lentina Ao Thakkar at Chuchuyimlang
‘Picture Gandhi’ is mainly a picture book with photographs from the life of Mahatma Gandhi with speech bubbles containing simple words.
Adi, Nyishi, Apatani, Mishimi and Nocte are the mostly used dialects spoken in Arunachal Pradesh.
Books on the biography of Mahatma Gandhi translated in to 5 Arunachalee dialects, namely Adi, Nyishi, Apatani, Mishimi and Nocte, released on the occasion of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. pic.twitter.com/v2MxsbG48v
— AIR News Itanagar (@airnews_ita) October 2, 2019
According to a report, translation of the book into Nyishi was not very easy as the dialect has many variations, some as distinct from each other as “Hindi and Bhojpuri would be”.
Earlier during the day, to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the Itanagar Municipal Council in collaboration with the district administration of Capital Complex organised Shramdaan at IG Park.
Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Khandu along with the Council of Ministers, MLAs, chief secretary, DGP, senior officers and officials from the district administration joined the mass social service to get rid of plastic wastes.
The chief minister also administered pledge on Swachhta Hi Sewa on the occasion.
Along with other parts of Arunachal Pradesh, the 150th birthday of Mahatma Gandhi was also celebrated at Roing in Lower Dibang Valley district where children dressed as Mahatma Gandhi took out a rally to create awareness about his philosophy and also requested people to wear helmet.