‘Ties of language and culture are stronger than political borders’: Punjabi translator Navdeep Suri

What does a translator bring to a text apart from their competence in the languages they translate from and into? How do their life experiences shape their literary contributions? To what extent can we separate their skill from their worldview? These questions are worth pondering over as publishers explore translation tools powered by Artificial Intelligence to cut costs and save time.

Navdeep Suri, whose English translation of Nanak Singh’s Punjabi novel Agg Di Khed (1948) as A Game of Fire (2024) received the Jury’s Special Commendation at the Muse India-GSP Rao Translation Awards 2025, spoke at length about his practice as a translator from a social and political lens in this conversation with Scroll at The Sacred Amritsar cultural festival.

His other translated books include those written by his grandfather, Nanak Singh, such as Khooni Vaisakhi, Khoon De Sohile and Pavitra Paapi. He is also involved with the Nanak Singh Literary Foundation, which was established to preserve the writer’s literary legacy.

Suri also served in the Indian Foreign Service from 1983 to 2019. He was India’s Consul General in Johannesburg, Former Ambassador of India to the UAE and Egypt, and High Commissioner to Australia. He headed the West Africa and Public Diplomacy departments at the Ministry of External Affairs.

Do you consider translation to be a political act? To what...

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