The 87-year young wordsmith who passed away recently identified herself as a "visible translator". There was a resounding ring of truth in her claim as she fought for the rights of the translator to be seen and recognised.

Works of authors such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Antonio Munoz Molina, Isabel Allende and Carlos Fuentes came alive in Grossman's highly commended "extraordinary high quality of prose ".If she started late as a translator at the age of 36, her works were marked with a feel for the language in which the works had originally been penned while the translated works managing to retain their original spirit which resulted in "creative alchemy".

Nobody looked askance when Grossman's name was carried along with Manuel Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote, in the translation of the book which has many home truths without being preachy in any way. The host of acclamations she received included Order of Civil Merit awarded by the King of Spain.

Grossman was incredulous when an agent asked her whether she would be interested in translating Marquez. On being given the assignment, she sent a 20-page sample for Love in the Time of Cholera; the rest is history.

The "visible translator" was among those who gave the English language a taste of magic realism. A graduate and a post-graduate in Spanish literature from University of Pennsylvania, she first showed her bent of writing when she translated some works of Argentine author Macedonio Fernandez.

Translation to her was an act of speaking for someone. To do this, it requires imagination, Grossman felt as otherwise it would not make sense. This was creative labour, Grossman insisted. For it helps build a bridge between what is voiced and what is not in so many words.

Translation was not the "humble Cinderella" of publishing was one of Grossman's memorable takes on her work. Small wonder, she took on publishers for not commissioning her with translation of more books dubbing their work "literary isolationism".

The publishers who scoffed at translators, Grossman felt were ignoring a global conversation. In doing so, they were missing two sets of readers. Translation to Grossman was a process which deepened mutual understanding through an exchange of ideas. In the process, it inculcated a shared love for literature. A gritty fighter who stood up for translators rights and remuneration she knew the travails of their job. It is no easy task to speak the author's voice in a second language.

Grossman heard the author's voice and that of the translator. She felt it was her obligation to hear both of them clearly sans missing the wealth of profundity lying amidst the camouflage of sentences. "You are my voice in English" Marquez told Grossman. Inarguably this was the ultimate tribute to her skills as a translator. (IPA Service)