AI-assisted Kannada translation of ‘My Name is Gauhar Jaan’ to be released in Mysuru on May 30

Artificial Intelligence (AI)-assisted Kannada translation of ‘My Name is Gauhar Jaan: The life and times of a Musician’ authored by Dr. Vikram Sampath is scheduled for release at Jagannath Centre for Art and Culture in Mysuru on Saturday.

The book titled ‘Nanna Hesaru Gauhar Jaan’ will be released by Mysuru MP Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar in the presence of linguist and researcher at Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) Narayan Kumar Choudhary.

Also, the book is described as the “first full-length book in India that is being translated using Bengaluru-based start-up NAAV AI’s innovative TransLit technology with minimum human effort in editing and proof-reading”.

The book is the biography of the celebrated Hindustani classical musician Gauhar Jaan of Calcutta (1873-1930), who also became the sub-continent’s first woman and artist to record her voice on the gramophone in 1902. 

“In a stormy and eventful life, Gauhar Jaan became a national and international celebrity, but fell on bad times during the last phase. That was when Maharaja Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar invited her as a State guest to Mysore, gave her a cottage called Dil Khush in Chamundi Vihara, and she died at the K. R. Hospital on 17 January 1930. Through rich archival research and musicological analysis, the book traces all these ups and downs in this celebrated artist’s life,” said a statement.

AI-assisted translation

The statement said NAAV AI’s TransLit that has been built for long-form textual translation from English to Indian languages and vice-versa, represents a new approach to translation. 

“It combines advanced AI capabilities with deep linguistic expertise. Far from replacing human translators, the model enhances their productivity by dramatically reducing turnaround time while preserving linguistic nuance and cultural authenticity. Translators who once spent months completing a single book can now work on multiple projects in the same timeframe, improving both efficiency and their earning potential. This collaboration between technology and human insight is what makes large-scale, high-quality translation in Indian languages finally possible”.

The original English book, My Name Is Gauhar Jaan, went on to win numerous national and international awards- the Sahitya Akademi’s first Yuva Puraskar in English Literature in 2012 and the ARSC International Award for Excellence in Historical Research in New York, and was also adapted into a play ‘Gauhar’ by Lilette Dubey.

The Kannada book is being published by Sahitya Prakashana, Hubli, a respected name in Kannada publishing, which has been innovative in adapting to this technology and publishing this maiden book. Shrigouri Joshi, Translator and Language Expert at NAAV AI has served as translation reviewer for the project, the statement said.