Cross-Culture Polinators

A well known Zen koan asks: what is the sound of a tree falling if no one hears it? I was thinking today, how would our culture sound if if translators did not exist? Imagine the voices that would be silenced if language translators did not exist. They have always been the first bridge to enrich and cross-pollinates cultures. There are many examples in the past. Think of the impact that translating the Bible into Latin had. What about the wealth of Arabic mathematical knowledge that would not have been lost to Europeans were it not for translators.
Today, it is easy to underestimate the impact that language translation has in our societies. After all, in our English-centric world we tend to think that almost everything we need is already in English. But there are always voices and styles in other languages that need to be heard.
One example of this is India, a country with hundreds of native languages. Only about 50 have current literature that gets regularly published, although news papers publish around 100 languages.
Fortunately, translators have stepped up to the plate and are helping the world learn about the priceless literature written in those languages. Arjun Deo Charan, Rajasthani poet-playwright, “Regional languages are beginning to reach a greater number of people thanks to translations.
This is phenomenon in many countries of the world. The work of language translation is alive and well and it will continue as long as there is language diversity.