Sangam Anthologies (சங்க இலக்கிய நூல்கள்): Vaidhehi Herbert Translated 12 out 18 Anthologies in English

Mrs. Vaidhehi Herbert from Hawai, USA

Mrs. Vaidhehi Herbert with Mr.Herbert

Vaidhehi Herbert, a Tamil scholar from Thoothukudi (Tuticorin) and at present she lives in Hawai, USA. She has translated 12 out of 18   anthologies of Sangam literature into English.   - body of Tamil classical  literature created between the years c. 600 BCE to 300 CE - i.e, The Major Eighteen Anthology Series (பதினெண்மேல்கணக்கு) comprising The Eight Anthologies (எட்டுத்தொகை) and the Ten Idylls (பத்துப்பாட்டு). The books are published through Konrai Publication. The English translated titles, Mullaipattau (முல்லைப்பாட்டு) and Nedunalvadai (நெடுநெல்வாடை), were reviewed and certified by Dr. George Hart, American Tamil and Sanskrit scholar, Tamil professor at University of California at Berkeley, California, U.S.A. Similarly the translated title Pathirrupathu (பதிற்றுப்பத்து) was reviewed and certified by Dr. Takanobu Takahashi, Japanese Tamil and Sanskrit Scholar. The Tamil Literary Garden, a Canadian literary organization and charity, has aptly honoured  Vaidhehi Herbert with Tamil Translation award in 2012. The Canadian University also  honoured her with an award and recognized her immense contribution to Tamil Literature. The author has plans to translate the remaining six more anthologies within 2014. However she also convinced that the translations will not be commercially beneficial to her.

The author don't like claim herself either as a poet or a language scholar and she is 'simply passionate and disciplined.' Over the last three years the author showed much dedication in studying Tamil and kept her engaged in translating number of Tamil Sangam poems into English. She has approached and learned  Mullaippaatu, an anthology from Dr. Rukmani Ramachandran, Assistant Professor of Tamil, Queen Mary's College, Chennai. She has undertaken the mammoth task of translation of 12 Sangam Tamil anthologies on her own and she never expected any aid from any government or other institutions. She has co-authored three books with Dr. Rukmani Ramachandran. She has also compiled the dictionary for terminology of Sangam Tamil anthologies. She is also prepared to teach the Tamil loving public on Sangam Tamil literature either in person or over phone. For this purposes she has also developed 20 web sites to enable online instruction and to encourage distance learning.

Anyone interested in learning more about Sangam poetry is encouraged to visit Herbert’s main websites at http://sangampoemsinenglish.wordpress.com and www.learnsangamtamil.com.


Reference:

1. Sangam Poems Translated by Vaidhehi Herbert http://sangamtranslationsbyvaidehi.com/
2. Tamil Bookstore http://www.tamilbookstore.in/
3. The Tamil Literary Garden (Wikipedia)
4. சங்கத் தமிழை மொழிபெயர்ப்பதில் பல சவால்கள்
   http://www.bbc.co.uk/tamil/multimedia/2013/06/130616_vaidehiaudio.shtml

Vaidehi Herbert Hawaii USA Sanga Ilakkiyam (YouTube)