जैसा कि शायद मेरे नाम से पता चलता है, मैं यहूदी हूँ। मेरे दादा-दादी पोलिश और रूसी यहूदी थे जो 1920 के दशक के अंत में ऑस्ट्रेलिया आए थे, और अगर वे ऐसा न करते, तो आज हम बात नहीं कर रहे होते।
As my name might suggest, I'm Jewish. My grandparents were Polish and Russian Jews who came to Australia in the late 1920s, and had they not, we wouldn't be talking now.
As my name might suggest, I'm Jewish. My grandparents were Polish and Russian Jews who came to Australia in the late 1920s, and had they not, we wouldn't be talking now.
जीवन के मुश्किल दौर में किताबें मेरे लिए एक असीम सांत्वना साबित हुई हैं। जब मैं 12 साल की थी, तब मैंने स्कूल बदला और मेरे माता-पिता अलग हो गए। तभी मुझे पढ़ने की लत लग गई। एक महान लेखक आपके मन और दिल से इस तरह जुड़ जाता है कि आपको दुनिया ज़्यादा बेहतर ढंग से समझ आने लगती है। जब तक आपके पास पढ़ने की क्षमता है, तब तक आपको अकेला महसूस करने की ज़रूरत नहीं है। मुझे याद है कि बचपन में मैं सोचती थी, "अगर मैं किसी एक इंसान को भी वही सुकून दे सकूँ जो मुझे लगातार किताबों से मिलता है, तो मैं ज़रूर लिखना चाहूँगी।"
At difficult times of my life, books have been an incredible comfort. When I was 12, I changed schools and my parents split up. It was then that I became addicted to reading. A great writer can attach themselves to your mind and heart, and you feel you understand the world better. As long as you have the capacity to read, you needn't be alone any more. I remember thinking as a child, "If I could give one person the comfort I keep getting from books, then I want to write."
At difficult times of my life, books have been an incredible comfort. When I was 12, I changed schools and my parents split up. It was then that I became addicted to reading. A great writer can attach themselves to your mind and heart, and you feel you understand the world better. As long as you have the capacity to read, you needn't be alone any more. I remember thinking as a child, "If I could give one person the comfort I keep getting from books, then I want to write."
अनिद्रा की बीमारी होने से बस मेरी रफ़्तार धीमी होती है। मैं रात में लिखने से बचती हूँ, क्योंकि मुझे डर रहता है कि इससे मेरी लिखावट की गुणवत्ता पर असर पड़ेगा।
Being an insomniac only slows me down. I try not to write at night, as I'm concerned that this will affect the quality.
Being an insomniac only slows me down. I try not to write at night, as I'm concerned that this will affect the quality.
करिश्मा किसी रिश्ते को सिर्फ़ उतने ही समय तक बचा सकता है जितने समय तक सुबह-सुबह की स्ट्रॉन्ग कॉफ़ी किसी करियर को संभालती है।
Charisma will sustain a relationship only in the way that strong coffee first thing in the morning will sustain a career.
Charisma will sustain a relationship only in the way that strong coffee first thing in the morning will sustain a career.
वामझुकाव वाली परवरिश, होलोकॉस्ट का सीधा अनुभव रखने वाला परिवार और लिखने की चाहत रखने वाला इंसान—मुझे लगता है, आज नहीं तो कल, ऐसा शख्स होलोकॉस्ट पर कुछ न कुछ लिखने की कोशिश ज़रूर करेगा।
Combine a left-leaning upbringing with a family with direct experience of the Holocaust and someone with aspirations to write and I guess, sooner or later, that person will have a stab at writing something about the Holocaust.
Combine a left-leaning upbringing with a family with direct experience of the Holocaust and someone with aspirations to write and I guess, sooner or later, that person will have a stab at writing something about the Holocaust.
नर्क वह खास पीड़ा है जो उस नुकसान की याद में बसती है, जिसे आपने खुद अपने हाथों पहुँचाया है
Hell is the special pain that dwells in that loss which you yourself have caused
Hell is the special pain that dwells in that loss which you yourself have caused
वह कभी-कभी कहीं जाते समय ट्रैफिक सिग्नल पर अपनी कार में बैठा यह अंदाज़ा लगाने की कोशिश करता है कि वह आपके बिना यहाँ कितनी बार इंतज़ार कर चुका है—यह उम्मीद करते हुए कि उसकी मुलाक़ात किसी ऐसे शख्स से हो जो आपको बस एक किस्सा बनाकर भुला दे, जिसे आखिरकार बाकी किस्सों की तरह ही भुला दिया जाए
He sits in his car at traffic lights on his way out sometimes and tries to estimate how many times he has sat here, waiting at these traffic lights on his way somewhere without you, hoping to meet someone with the capacity to consign you to an anecdote, to be eventually confused with others
He sits in his car at traffic lights on his way out sometimes and tries to estimate how many times he has sat here, waiting at these traffic lights on his way somewhere without you, hoping to meet someone with the capacity to consign you to an anecdote, to be eventually confused with others
मैं उसे अपनी छाती से लगा लेता हूँ। उसके लिए मेरा प्यार इस बात का इकलौता अकाट्य सबूत है कि मेरे भीतर आज भी कुछ ऐसा अच्छा है जो हमेशा मौजूद रहता है। यह वो वजह है जिसके चलते मुझे आने वाले हर उस दर्द से बचा लिया जाना चाहिए, और इकलौती वजह यही है।
I hold him to my chest. My love for him is the only unequivocally good thing I know is always there inside of me. It is the reason I should be spared all that is coming, the only reason.
I hold him to my chest. My love for him is the only unequivocally good thing I know is always there inside of me. It is the reason I should be spared all that is coming, the only reason.
यह जले हुए टोस्ट की गंध जैसा है। आपने टोस्ट बनाया था। आप उसका इंतज़ार कर रहे थे। आपने उसे बनाने में आनंद भी लिया था, लेकिन वो जल गया। आप उस वक्त क्या कर रहे थे? क्या यह आपकी गलती थी? अब इससे कोई फर्क नहीं पड़ता। आप खिड़की खोलते हैं, लेकिन गंध की केवल सबसे ऊपरी परत ही बाहर जाती है। बाकी हिस्सा आपके आस-पास ही बना रहता है। वह दीवारों में बस जाता है। आप कमरा छोड़ देते हैं, लेकिन वह आपके कपड़ों पर रह जाता है। आप कपड़े बदल लेते हैं, लेकिन वह आपके बालों में बसा होता है। आपके हाथों की नरम त्वचा पर उसकी महक रह जाती है। और सुबह उठने पर भी वह वहीं रहती है।
It's like the smell of burned toast. You made the toast. You looked forward to it. You even enjoyed making it, but it burned. What were you doing? Was it your fault? It doesn't matter anymore. You open the window, but only the very top layer of the smell goes away. The rest remains around you. It's the walls. You leave the room, but it's on your clothes. You change your clothes, but it's in your hair. It's on the thin skin on the tops of your hand. And in the morning, it's still there.
It's like the smell of burned toast. You made the toast. You looked forward to it. You even enjoyed making it, but it burned. What were you doing? Was it your fault? It doesn't matter anymore. You open the window, but only the very top layer of the smell goes away. The rest remains around you. It's the walls. You leave the room, but it's on your clothes. You change your clothes, but it's in your hair. It's on the thin skin on the tops of your hand. And in the morning, it's still there.
मैं कभी बच्चा हुआ करता था। यह मेरे लिए बहुत स्वाभाविक था। कुछ समय के लिए मैं वयस्क भी रहा। वह बात मेरे लिए उतनी स्वाभाविक नहीं थी।
I used to be a child. It came naturally to me. I was an adult for a time, too. That came less naturally.
I used to be a child. It came naturally to me. I was an adult for a time, too. That came less naturally.
सुनिए—वह तब जो कुछ भी थी, वह आज जो कुछ भी है, वे इशारे, वह सब कुछ जिसे मैं याद तो रखता हूँ लेकिन अब और व्यक्त नहीं करना चाहता या कर नहीं सकता, वे बेहतरीन शब्द जो किसी तरह उसे बयां करते-करते अधूरे पड़ जाते हैं और उसके बारे में वह सब कुछ जो अनकहा ही रहना चाहिए—इनमें से किसी को भी तर्क का कोई आधार नहीं मिलता। मैं यह जानता हूँ। लेकिन वह रहस्यमयी शांति जो तर्क के सामने खड़े होने वाले लोगों को घेर लेती है—वह ऐसी चीज़ है जिससे मुझे कभी सुकून नहीं मिला, कम से कम तब से तो बिल्कुल नहीं जब से वह मेरी ज़िंदगी में आई थी।
Listen- all that she was then, all that she is now, those gestures, everything I remember but won't or can't articulate anymore, the perfect words that are somehow made imperfect when used to describe her and all that should remain unsaid about her- it is all unsupported by reason. I know that. But that enigmatic calm that attaches itself to people in the presence of reason- it's something from which I haven't been able to take comfort, not reliably, not since her.
Listen- all that she was then, all that she is now, those gestures, everything I remember but won't or can't articulate anymore, the perfect words that are somehow made imperfect when used to describe her and all that should remain unsaid about her- it is all unsupported by reason. I know that. But that enigmatic calm that attaches itself to people in the presence of reason- it's something from which I haven't been able to take comfort, not reliably, not since her.
[यादें] तब आती हैं जब उन्हें भूख लगती है, तब नहीं जब आपको उनकी ज़रूरत होती है।
[Memory] visits when it is hungry, not when you are.
[Memory] visits when it is hungry, not when you are.
शायद लोगों को थोड़ी ज़्यादा कल्पनाशीलता के साथ महसूस करना चाहिए।
Perhaps people ought to feel with more imagination.
Perhaps people ought to feel with more imagination.
किसी के व्यक्तित्व को गढ़ने वाली अजीबोगरीब परतें इतनी अनगिनत होती हैं कि उन्हें पूरी तरह जानना नामुमकिन है, भले ही आप उसके कितने भी करीब क्यों न हों। जिस इंसान को हम अच्छी तरह जानते समझते हैं, वही अचानक कोई दूसरा ही इंसान बन जाता है जब हालात उसके चरित्र के उन पहलुओं को सतह पर ले आते हैं जो अब तक छिपे हुए थे।
The peculiar striations that define someone's personality are too numerous to know, no matter how close the observer. A person we think we know can suddenly become someone else when previously hidden strands of his character are called to the fore by circumstance.
The peculiar striations that define someone's personality are too numerous to know, no matter how close the observer. A person we think we know can suddenly become someone else when previously hidden strands of his character are called to the fore by circumstance.
मिसाल के तौर पर, मानवीय रिश्तों में एक अस्पष्टता होती है। शब्दों के किसी क्रम की तरह ही दो लोगों के बीच का रिश्ता भी अस्पष्ट होता है यदि उसके कई अलग-अलग मतलब निकाले जा सकें। और अगर दो लोगों के अपने रिश्ते को लेकर अलग-अलग नज़रिया हो—मेरा मतलब सिर्फ उसके मौजूदा हाल से नहीं है, बल्कि उसके मूल स्वरूप से है—तो वह मतभेद उनके पूरे जीवन की दिशा को बदल सकता है।
There's the ambiguity of human relationships, for instance. A relationship between two people, just like a sequence of words, is ambiguous if it is open to different interpretations. And if two people do have differing views about their relationship - I don't just mean about its state, I mean about its very nature - then that difference can affect the entire course of their lives.
There's the ambiguity of human relationships, for instance. A relationship between two people, just like a sequence of words, is ambiguous if it is open to different interpretations. And if two people do have differing views about their relationship - I don't just mean about its state, I mean about its very nature - then that difference can affect the entire course of their lives.
पैदा होने के बाद से लेकर ज़िंदगी और क्या है सिवाय इसके कि कम से कम किसी एक इंसान की नज़र में तो आपका होना मायने रखे?
What else is life from the time you were born but a struggle to matter, at least to someone?
What else is life from the time you were born but a struggle to matter, at least to someone?
पुरुषों में ऐसा क्या है जो औरतों को इतना अकेला कर देता है?
What is it about men that make women so lonely?
What is it about men that make women so lonely?
जब आप कम उम्र के होते हैं, तो आप यह जानने के लिए बहुत लापरवाह रहते हैं कि आप कौन हैं, आप क्या कर सकते हैं और आपको क्या करना चाहिए। लेकिन जैसे-जैसे आपकी उम्र बढ़ती है, आप खुद को वैसे ही स्वीकार करने लगते हैं, और इसके साथ ही जीवन में एक गहरा संतोष भी आने लगता है।
When you're younger, you tend to be reckless about trying to find out who you are and what you can do and should do. But as you get older you become more accepting of yourself, and with that comes greater contentment.
When you're younger, you tend to be reckless about trying to find out who you are and what you can do and should do. But as you get older you become more accepting of yourself, and with that comes greater contentment.
मैंने शुरुआत में उन्हीं के साथ क्यों काम करना शुरू किया? हम में से कोई भी किसी एक कंपनी को दूसरे के मुकाबले अपना नियोक्ता क्यों चुनता है? पैसों के लिए? शुरुआत में वे सभी कमोबेश एक जैसा ही प्रस्ताव देते हैं और किसी को नहीं पता होता कि आगे चलकर क्या होगा। मुझे लगता है कि यह अक्सर किसी खास फर्म में आपके भविष्य की संभावनाओं पर निर्भर नहीं होता, क्योंकि वे तो असल में अनिश्चित होती हैं, बल्कि इस बात पर निर्भर करता है कि लोग क्या सोचेंगे—कि आपने वहाँ नौकरी पाकर अच्छा काम किया है या नहीं, यही बात आपकी पसंद तय करती है। मेरे मामले में भी काफी हद तक यही था। असल बात तो उसका रुतबा थी। उनके लेटरहेड बहुत अच्छे थे।
Why did I start with them? Why do any of us choose one company over another as an employer? The money? At the beginning they all offer more or less the same and no one know how it will go after that. I guess it is often not so much your prospects at a particular firm, because these are essentially unknowable, but whether people will think you have done well to get the job there, that determines you choice. That was largely it in my case. It was really the prestige. They gave good letterhead.
Why did I start with them? Why do any of us choose one company over another as an employer? The money? At the beginning they all offer more or less the same and no one know how it will go after that. I guess it is often not so much your prospects at a particular firm, because these are essentially unknowable, but whether people will think you have done well to get the job there, that determines you choice. That was largely it in my case. It was really the prestige. They gave good letterhead.
किसी से प्यार करने के लिए यह ज़रूरी नहीं कि आप लगातार उससे मिलते रहें। हो सकता है कि अब आपका उससे कोई संपर्क न बचा हो, हो सकता है कि उसने आपको ठेस पहुँचाई हो, वह भी बिना किसी साफ़ वजह के। अगर आपने कभी महसूस किया था कि आप उसे सच में जानते थे और आप जिसे जानते थे उसी से प्यार करते थे, और अगर आपको याद है कि तब आप उसके बारे में क्या जानते थे, तो उस प्यार को अपने भीतर संजोए रखना भला इतना पागलपन क्यों है?
You don't need to be seeing someone to be in love with her. You can have lost touch with her, she can have hurt you, even inexplicably. If you ever felt that you really knew her and that it was what you knew that you loved, and if you remember what it was you once knew, why is it so crazy to retain that love still?
You don't need to be seeing someone to be in love with her. You can have lost touch with her, she can have hurt you, even inexplicably. If you ever felt that you really knew her and that it was what you knew that you loved, and if you remember what it was you once knew, why is it so crazy to retain that love still?
आप जानते हैं कि आप किसी के प्यार में हैं जब आप उसके बगल में जागते हैं, और आपके मुँह से भले ही फूलदान के उस बासी पानी जैसी बदबू आ रही हो जो हफ़्ते भर से बदला न गया हो, फिर भी आप सहज महसूस करते हैं, जब आप उसे दोबारा देखने और उससे बात करने के लिए बेहद उत्सुक होते हैं, क्योंकि इतनी लंबी नींद के बाद आप उसे याद कर रहे थे।
You know you're in love with somebody when you wake up next to them, comfortable despite your breath smelling like the week-old water at the bottom of a vase, when you are terribly excited to see them, to talk to them again, having missed them after all that sleep.
You know you're in love with somebody when you wake up next to them, comfortable despite your breath smelling like the week-old water at the bottom of a vase, when you are terribly excited to see them, to talk to them again, having missed them after all that sleep.
आप मुझे कुछ और समझाने की कोशिश कर रहे थे और मैं आपको कुछ और ही बताने की कोशिश कर रहा था। हम एक-दूसरे पर भरोसा नहीं करते थे और हम दोनों में से हर एक को सही साबित करने के लिए बस यही वजह काफी थी।
You were trying to tell me something and I was trying to tell you something else. We didn't trust each other and that was reason enough to make each of us right.
You were trying to tell me something and I was trying to tell you something else. We didn't trust each other and that was reason enough to make each of us right.
आपको यह बात बहुत अच्छी लगेगी कि वह आपको किस नजर से देखता है। वह आपके वजूद का इस्तेमाल खुद के खिलाफ एक हथियार की तरह करता है, और सिर्फ इसलिए नहीं कि आपने ऐसा किया था
You would love the way he sees you. He uses you as a weapon against himself and not merely because you did
You would love the way he sees you. He uses you as a weapon against himself and not merely because you did