My Dream Job - Lost in Translation !

[Edited to Add - This post is a winner in the BlogAdda `My Dream Job` Contest. Thanks a lot BlogAdda !]

This post is my entry for the Blog Adda Dream Job contest, sponsored by Pringoo.

Dream Job ! Ah that elusive thing which we all yearn for but rarely get !

Since childhood I've had two passions, Languages and Creative Writing. I love learning languages, love to understand their mysterious intricacies and how to use them. I have been learning languages since childhood and have even made Japanese, a foreign language my profession. Now, after a Masters in that language I am doing something that is not even remotely similar to what I had ever visualized doing. I work in the IT industry, a non techie sticking out like a sore thumb amongst all those technically savvy people!. When I started learning the language, I had visions of myself wearing ethnic clothes from Fab India, doing literary translations and discussing Japanese art and literature over coffee. The only thing that has come true is that I wear ethnic clothes! Instead of doing literary translations I translate technical specifications and instead of discussing literature over coffee I spend my time with the so called techie nerds who think Yasunari Kawabata is not worth knowing because he didn’t write an idiots guide to Java programming !
My Dream job, my absolute I would die for it sort of dream job combines both languages and creative writing. I would love to make a living out of literary translation. Literary translation is translating works of literature from one language into another. The art of translation, especially translating literature is a difficult one. You need to take care of both the lingual and cultural nuances in such a way that the reader feels he is reading the original and not a translation. I love the challenge of finding the exact words that would convey not the dictionary meaning but the real essence and spirit behind what the writer wants to say. To be able to translate well you need to have not only a flair for words but also a creative bent of mind.
I don’t yearn for success or great accolades in literary circles.I just want to write, to translate simply for the love of the language, because I love to dabble with words, to play with them and use their magic the way I want!
And while I am it, I would like to enjoy my work, do it at my own pace, without the corporate worlds' stress for deadlines. I want enough time to enjoy that sunset, to take leisurely walks, to take out time for the simple pleasures of life!

While describing his life as a writer in his Book 'The India I love' Ruskin Bond has written 'Here I am, doing my own thing, in my own time and in my own way. What more can I ask of Life?'

Indeed what more can one ask from Life !