Lost in translation

At a conference in Mumbai attended by a Vietnamese delegation to discuss business prospects with Indian businessmen, translator machines were given to the latter since most of the Vietnamese spoke only in their local language. But to the guests’ dismay, the translation facility came to a halt as soon as the top Vietnamese ministers left. In the later part of the conference, Vietnamese officials had a tough time translating the Indian side’s queries into Vietnamese and translating the answers back to English. An official from Vietnam had to resort to the tedious process of hurriedly noting down each and every point the panelists made so that appropriate replies could be framed.