I had lunch with my friend yesterday.  As usual, our topics are on global economics, people retrenched from their jobs, countries export figures getting lower, banks are not lending money etc etc.  Being a normal citizen, we could not do too much about it.

At the end, my friend sighed and told me that he was lost.  For a moment, I am speechless.  I could find no words to console him.  I could just muster a smile and acknowledge his feeling.

A thought flashed into my mind.  Suddenly, I remembered what I had read from Paulo Coelho’s “The Fifth Mountain”.  I began to share with him what I had learnt from this book.

Basically, all of us brought with us a gift when we come to this world.  This gift could be the joy, humorous, abundance, peace, love, humanity etc etc.  Some of us choose to share this gift with the people around us and hence living out their higher purpose.  But many of us choose to deny this gift…perhaps due to the pain, fear, disencouragement and guilt we encountered along the way.

By choosing to live out your higher purpose, it could take you on a path less traveled by others.  This path will definitely be adventurous and full of challenging obstacles.  But not all of us will accomplish what we are born to be. Most of us will be disheartened and gave up along the way.  But for those of us who are focused and persevered on, we will live out our higher purpose ultimately.

Now, what is our higher purpose?  I would said that it is solely based on individual’s definition.  Some would define it to building a wealth foundation for the poor, leaving a legacy for their future generation, travelling to exotic places, volunteering in some charity organisation etc.  Or it could be as simple as just giving one true self and love to your loved ones each day.

I do know is that when we are walking on the path towards our higher purpose…the Universe will align and magnifest itself to achieve what we want.  I truly feel it is happening to me  and every day is like a miracle to me.

Mother Theresa once said,” I could not do great things but I can do small things with great love”

I did not know what my friend think after he heard my sharing.  But I could sense that he felt much better.  I hoped that I have touched his life.

As the saying goes…”Whatever happens, happens for a reason”

After I have read Paulo Coelho’s The Fifth Mountain, I continue to read his another book entitled “Like the Flowing River”.  This is a collection of reflections from Paulo Coelho. In this riveting collection of thoughts and stories, he offers his personal reflections on a wide range of subjects from archery and music to elegance, travelling and the nature of good and evil.

What actually caught my attention is when I read a particular short story on “The Other Side of the Tower of Babel”.  In this story, he pays his respect to the Holy Translator, Saint Mesrob.  Below is an extract of what Paulo had wrote and it best summarize the importance of a good book translator:

“Today is 9 October, 2004. The town is called Oshakan, and Armenia, as far as I know, is the only place in the world that has declared the day of the Holy Translator, St. Mesrob, a national holiday and where they celebrate it in style. As well as creating the Armenian alphabet (the language already existed, but only in spoken form). St Mesrob devoted his life to translating into his mother tongue the most important texts of the period, which were written in Greek, Persian or Cyrillic. He and his disciples devoted themselves to the enormous task of translating the Bible and the main literary classics of the time. From that moment on, the country’s culture gained its own identity, which it has maintained to this day.

The Holy Translator. I hold the flower in my hands and think of all the people I have never met, and perhaps may never have the opportunity to meet, but who, at this moment, have my books in their hands, and are doing their best tremain faithful to what I have tried to share with my readers. I think, above all, of my father-in-law, Christiano Monteiro Oiticica (profession: translator), who is today in the company of angels and of St. Mesrob, watching this scene. I remember seeing him hunched over his old typewriter, often complaining about how badly paid translation was (and, alas, still is). He would immediately go on, though, to explain that the real reason he translated was because he wanted to share a knowledge, which, but for translators, would never reach his own people.

I say a silent prayer for him, for all those who have helped me with my books, and for those who have allowed me to read books to which I would never otherwise have had access, thus helping – anonymously – to shape my life and my character. When I leave the church, I see some children writing the alphabet with sweets in the shape of letters and with flowers and more flowers.

When man grew ambitious, God destroyed the Tower of Babel, and everyone began to speak different tongues. However, in His infinite grace, he also created people to rebuild those bridges, to enable dialogue and the diffusion of human thought. This person, whose name we rarely take the trouble to notice when we open a foreign book, is the translator.”

The above extract has touched my heart when I read it.  In this commercial world, some people has failed to comprehend the importance of translation.   They fail to understand that a translator takes much effort and time to produce a good translation work.  My kudos to those professional translators in the world.  Thanks for being the Bridge Across Cultures in this world!

I have just finished reading “The Fifth Mountain” by Paulo Coelho.  For those who do not know him yet, he is the same author who wrote the international bestseller “The Alchemist”.  This book “The Alchemist”  has been translated into over 60 different types of languages and has sold over 75 millions copies!

As I am reading “The Fifth Mountain”, I found that it is immensely intriguing and it keeps me reading on to find out what will happen to the main character, Elijah.  It is a story about a person finding his own courage and commitment to his higher purpose.  All of us have our higher purpose when we are born, but many of us choose to ignore or defy that purpose.

Well for me, this book brings a great sense of inspiration to me.  I will follow my instinct and achieve my higher purpose in life – to serve mankind through better communication and education.

Because Paulo is a Brazillian writer, so I assume that the book is written in Portugese and translated into English and other languages.  Kudos to the translators who did a marvellous job.  The whole book is very well written and the principles behind it are timeless.  I believe the team of translators and editors have spent lots and lots of time doing research, translating, proofreading, re-editing and proofreading the content before it is good enough to be published.  The team effort and synergy is enormous.

I guess the translators and editors have a great responsibility to the author and the readers.  The writing style and flow must be consistent  without losing any flavour as compared to the original copy.

We are in the midst of doing a book translation.  Hence, we can share their feelings and responsibilities.  We will definitely keep you update on our new book launch.

For those who would like to have a read of the reviews or to get the book, here’s it: