Pune: A new signboard at Pune railway station greets passengers with a description of Pune’s history. However, instead of being a matter of pride for citizens, it has embarrassed many because of its incorrect Marathi.
The board, said to be at a par with those at airports, has the history written in Hindi, English and, unfortunately, incorrect Marathi. The errors in the Marathi version are so brazen than it is being speculated that it is probably a Google translation of the English version.
The popular search engine google.com has a tool to translate sentences or words from one language to another and Marathi is one of them. Two boards with information about facilities at the station have been put up in front of the new walkway connecting the main entrance to the new second entry and in front of the main entrance.
Railway activists are claiming that the script of Marathi language used by the Railways on the signboard is not good enough and even school children can write better Marathi.
“It is the 93rd year of the station building’s establishment. On the right side, they have mentioned history of Pune in three language - Marathi, English and Hindi. The English is good and even the Hindi is good, but the Marathi used by the railway authorities is like a translation of each word, which is not correct.
This is embarrassing to Puneites. The authority should replace it immediately,” said Harsha Shah, President of Railway Pravasi Group. Another daily passenger said, “No one expects this from the Railways. It is shameful. They can ask their officials and they too will point out that it is incorrect.”
A senior official of Pune rail division said, “The language department handles all these things. This is not embarrassing to Puneites or even to Railways. We respect all languages.” A senior official of Divisional Railway Manager’s (DRM) office, Pune, on the condition of anonymity, said “The Hindi script was translated through Google translation and, after editing, it was allowed to be to displayed on the board.”
