This article explores the complexity of translation in the Indian context from the perspective of a publisher. Several questions are discussed: the multilingual history of India and the impact of the British “discovery” of Sanskrit in the 18th century on translation activity, the paradoxes of translation in India where translators often work in a learned language, rather than their first language, and the challenge of translation exchange among regional languages. The author ends by showing how the translation of Dalit works can help us reimagine an alternative India, a country by nature porous in terms of languages, regional histories and perpetual struggles for social equity, survival and justice.