Publishers On Publishing

by Nitasha Devasar

  For the first time, NBT India published a book in Sanskrit.We also organized the NBT Rashtriya Sanskrit Pustak Mela in Varanasi, where publishers showcased books in Sanskrit as well as in other languages.

  To bring more and more people of rural areas closer to books, NBT is also planning to organize National Panchayat Book Fairs by involving Panchayati Raj institutions—the first one will be held in Srinagar, Uttarakhand.

  Another new initiative is Rashtriya Bal Pustak Mela in Pune, where there will be a two-day seminar on what kind of books should be developed for children to inculcate a reading habit among them.

  In order to encourage young women writers below 40 years, NBT has launched the ‘Mahila Lekhak Protsahan Yojana’, under which we will publish original and unpublished works of young writers. Besides, NBT has added several new series to its publishing profile, including Women Pioneers series,Veergatha series and Navalekhanmala.

  As another first, NBT has conducted book publishing courses for girl students under the government’s skill development programme—the first one was held at Aditi College.

  Senior media personality and thinker, baldeo bhai sharma is Chairman of National Book Trust. He has served as Editor of dailies such as Dainik Swadesh, Dainik Bhaskar, Amar Ujala, Panchjanya and National Duniya. He is known for his participation in socio-political discourse on various news channels and has long been associated with Akashvani through numerous programmes. He also works

  with various social institutions. 13

  JaIPur lIt fest

  “literary fests make ideas accessible” Namita Gokhale

  Q:Trace the history of the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) since its inception.

  Namita: Described as the ‘greatest literary show on Earth’ and the ‘Kumbh of literature’, the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival is a feast for the mind. The past decade has seen it transform into a global literary phenomenon, having hosted nearly 2,000 speakers and welcoming over a million book lovers from across India and the globe.The Festival’s core values remain unchanged: to serve as a democratic, equitable platform offering free and fair access. Every year, the Festival brings together a diverse mix of the world’s greatest writers, thinkers, humanitarians, politicians, business leaders, sports people and entertainers on one stage to champion the freedom to express and engage in thoughtful debate and dialogue.

  Looking back, I feel extremely satisfied and a bit surprised by the way events have turned out. I am very gratified with the outcome. JLF had begun as a very tentative initiative years ago. In 2002, I helped to set up the first international festival of Indian literature in Neemrana with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). It had a fantastic turnout, with writers of the stature of Amitav Ghosh,Vikram Seth and Gopalkrishna Gandhi.At that time, I had insisted that we also bring in all the famous Indian writers in the major Indian languages. So we had U.R. Ananthamurthy, Sunil Gangopadhyay and Ashok Mitra.

  Until then, English writing was more popular than Indian-language writing and the Indian-language writers felt a bit hurt by the fact that they were not taken seriously in the national media or by the national

  publishers.There was a sort of a confused snobbery in the English writing scene. So, when I was asked by the Jaipur Virasat Foundation in 2006 to help them establish a festival, I made it clear that I would do it only if it was to have the festival centered on the Indian languages.They were very happy with that and that’s how we started.

  Then in 2008, when Sanjoy Roy and Teamworks took over the festival formally, I continued with the same approach. For me, the main purpose was to forefront Indian literature, as much as I could in the Indian languages.

  Now when I look back, I feel that purpose, to a very large degree, has been established.There are so many wonderful publishers operating in India and when they think of Indian literature they no longer think about it in isolation in terms of the Indian English writer. Perumal Murugan is as much part of Indian literature as Mahasweta Devi.The business of translating into different languages and making literatures accessible to each other is a reality. So I no longer need to push the writers the way I used to.There are a lot many people doing this. Our purpose of showcasing Indian literature and belief that India had a great literary moment ahead, if the languages can be in conversation with each other, is happening.

  So the aims of the festival have also slowly changed and evolved. For me, the purpose is now to make ideas accessible to a new generation and of course to the older generation.There are so many young people in our audiences now, who are so very intelligent, articulate and so very engaged. Like it or not, people are afraid to say what they think. I think the JLF is a place where India can hear what it thinks.We have public conversation around many subjects which are not binary, which are not right or wrong or confrontational, which are not left versus right, but which have a larger, more intuitive look because so much change is happening in our country and that change needs to be recognized and understood and channelized.And that’s the job of books and ideas!

  Q: According to you, what are the reasons that the JLF got so big? Namita: I remember, in 2008, we had wonderful programmes but we

  hardly had any audiences. So the very next year, the team and I worked very hard in outreach. I remember if we had a Bangla session we would reach out to leaders in the Bengali community in Kali Bari, asking them to have a representation.The year we had our first Sindhi session, which involved a lot of Sindhi writers from India and Pakistan, we made sure that the Sindhi community knew about it. In that sense, we made specialized outreach programmes wherever we could. Over the years, the word spread and there are people who are curious to see what the JLF is all about, and we also have our regulars…people with a sense of community and solidarity as book readers and book lovers.The JLF can be intimidating because of its humungous size, but there are people who have figured it out—how it works, they look at the programme and plan their day—so they are able to make the most of it.

  I think, if a person is not familiar with the inner dynamics of the festival, if they are lucky, they will land a wonderful session of their choice. Some people do get disoriented and disgruntled because the whole world has suddenly decided to visit the one inch of space!! But every year we expand the space, we run it intelligently to make our crowd management efficient.We have been on the course for two years at the Harvard Business School and been taught there as an example of cultural entrepreneurship. But I also think someday just the crowd management in Jaipur will deserve a study. So when our former President Late Dr A.P.J.Abdul Kalam came in 2015, we were completely taken by surprise….There were so many schoolchildren and they clambered on to trees to have a look at their idol. That was a life-changing moment for us! Similar was the case when Oprah Winfrey came to the JLF in 2012….There were thousands of people outside waiting to get in and get a glimpse of her.

  Q: How has the engagement with readers/visitors changed over time? Namita: There was a divide....The English-speaking ones did not go to the regional languages so much.There were more barriers and compartments within the audience, which has changed.The audience is much more flexible and listening to one another.And I think this has happened because of the literary festivals and here is really a literary

  community that has emerged. It feels wonderful to see so many young people at the JLF. Out of every hundred children, even if two or three minds are sparked, if they get that inspiration that will unlock their capabilities and capacity, then I think it’s worth it and wonderful.

  Q: How has the nature of authorship changed over the years? Namita: We had the immensely popular writer Chetan Bhagat at the JLF in 2009 and 2010 which sparked animated discussions over whether or not he deserved to be at a literary festival.

  Now we have Amish Tripathi and Ashwin Sanghi who are bestsellers in a different formula. In 2018, we had Rupi Kaur, who represents a different kind of authorship which extends its hold across social media and also languages. So there are different authors who reach
out to aspirational readership, each of them has a different formula....The fact is there are new and varying formulas around.

  I also see some very wonderful literary writers, such as Perumal Murugan, who were thrown into the Indian consciousness because of an unfortunate event and went on to make their mark because of the excellent quality of their writing and wonderful translations available. The crossover to another language really depends on the quality of the translation.A bad translation can kill a book.

  Q:What is the role of publishers at such fests?

  Namita: At such fests, the role of the publisher is to help make books accessible and to make the less-known writers visible to the festival directors.Though it is great to have the authors of the top ten books of the year, there are many writers who are wonderful too and have written thoughtful and unusual, off-the-beaten-path books.When the festivals are able to highlight these writers too, that is their best function, because these writers also get visibility, audiences and readership. Besides, the audiences and the festival itself have more diversity and range. Q: Across the nation, we say people are reading less, but on the other hand, book fests are growing.What is your take on this?

  Namita: I don’t think people are reading less; the publishing industry has so many economic problems: GST (goods and services tax), distribution, industry status, etc.The industry struggles to make it viable every time and most publishers are there because they believe in publishing not only as a financial proposition but because they believe in it. Keeping these constraints in mind, I think people are reading and people are reacting. I think it is a reality around the world that people do want to hear their writers speak, and it is a part of their old tradition.Writers are public figures.There are writers who are performers and writers who are nonperformers. But I think that when people go to a festival and hear an author, it helps them bridge that approach to a book/set of books.The bookstore at the JLF—Full Circle—does extremely well in terms of sales. The fact that most publishing centres on December or January releases is because the major festivals, including Jaipur, happen around the same time.

  Q:There has been a boom in book fests across the nation? Do you think this trend will continue to grow? Why/Why not? Namita: Our festival has sparked off so many other festivals as well and I think that it is wonderful, because every town and city now has two or three festivals. Most of them follow the Jaipur model—while they get international writers, they also celebrate their local languages writers, thus bridging the distance between our Indian languages and English. It is really unfortunate that in India, like the class divide, the caste divide, the regional divide, language divide also exists. People with access to English tend to have a privilege.The more the Indian languages are celebrated, the more these distances will be bridged.Therefore, one of the reasons for the Jaipur BookMark is to work towards translations and to meet the international publishing industry and have conversations around the subject.

  Also writers from different parts of India and abroad, writing in different languages, spend time together in these festivals.The off-time opportunities at the JLF give them time to meet other writers and to interact with them.There is an intellectual exchange of ideas.

  Q:What is your opinion on e-books?

  Namita: I am a physical book person.There is no doubt that e-books have a wonderful space. But,‘I live in a book shelf.’The habit of reading in a digital mode is also very compulsive because it is easier to carry and you can have multiple books in one device, then there is backlighting. Also, there are enhanced books with so many extra components of audio and video. I have no doubt that it is a feasible and important format for the future. But I love my physical books.

  Q:What future do you see for book fests?

  Namita: There are two kinds of book festivals—ones which are run with selfless passion/love for books and others are motivated by egos and celebrity culture. Book festivals which run with great depth, empathy and feeling have a bright future indeed! Human interaction with writers, thinkers and creative persons is a great catalyst and stimulus to reading and original thinking.

  namita gokhale is Festival Director for the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF), and is JLF’s co-Founder-Director along with William Dalrymple. Her debut novel Paro: Dreams of Passion was published in 1984 and she has written 14 books of which eight are fiction. Namita published the Bollywood film magazine Super right after

  dropping out of college. 14

  hInDu lIt for lIfe

  “Book festivals are a great addition to the reading culture” Rachna Singh Davidar

  Q:Trace the history, purpose and benefits of the Hindu Lit For Life (LFL) since its inception.

  Rachna: The Hindu Lit For Life held its first festival in 2010 to commemorate the 20th year of the Literary Review.A literature festival contributes to the cultural fabric of the city and the country it is part of. I’d like to think that the LFL, in the eight years that it’s been around, has made its own contribution to Chennai and the Indian literary festival circuit. I believe our festival gives writers and readers a tremendous opportunity to interact with each other.As we pride ourselves on being a festival of ideas, we also try to create a space in which ideas can be generated and reflected upon. In the 21st century, the cacophony all of us generate is deafening. So what we are trying to do, among other things, is to create a forum where, in addition to high-quality debate and presentations, people with conflicting viewpoints can get together to discuss contentious issues and think deeply about what is being said. Be that as it may, at the heart of the festival is literature: we showcase the best literature in India and the rest of the world. Nothing is taboo, the only basic criterion or filter we use is that the ideas and literary creations that find a place in the LFL line-up are world class and thought-provoking.

  Q: How has the nature of authorship changed over the years? Rachna: Writing and writers in India continue to evolve (and I only speak for books published in English, since that is what I know about).

  We’re a far from mature market, unlike the UK for example, so there is plenty of scope for experimentation and for our writers to get to grips with the unparalleled source material they have at their disposal in our country.Already, we have some of the most interesting books and writers to be found anywhere in the world, and I am confident that in times to come, there will be more and more outstanding books that will be written here. One noteworthy aspect of the book scene, in the past decade or so, is the explosion of commercial writers. Selling them in high numbers is not uncommon. Still not enough though, and other than the top ten commercial writers we still don’t have large sales, which is a major disappointment.

  Q: How has the engagement with readers/visitors changed over time? Rachna: There are many more readers and writers at the festival. Both have become even more diverse and that has made the festival so much more vibrant.We have many more students and younger folk at the festival. And this year we started a kids’ festival as part of the larger festival.

  Our numbers are growing every year.About six years ago, we had less than a thousand visitors to the festival. In 2017 it was close to 30,000. Over three days, we had 120 speakers, 60 sessions that were packed to capacity, 10 workshops, and a kids’ festival.The visitors to the LFL come from all over the country and in the last couple of years we have attracted the attention of festival goers from many parts of the world, so now we get folks from everywhere.As entry to the festival is free, anyone wishing to attend is welcome.A lot of the people who have visited have remarked on how much they have enjoyed listening to some of the finest minds of our time. I must single out Chennai audiences as being among the most engaged audiences I have ever seen.They are well read and informed and love to interact with visiting writers.And because we’re still small enough, there is something that is very satisfying about the way in which members of the audience engage with writers.

  Q:What makes the Hindu LFL different from others? Rachna: I spend very little time comparing the LFL to other
festivals.

  I like to focus absolutely on making our programming the best it can

  rachna singh davidar 79 possibly be.That is at the core of the LFL. For example, one of the things I don’t focus too much on is restricting to themes, which seems to be the flavour of the month.What I would rather do is make every single session count, and have as wide and deep a mix of writers and subjects as possible so that there is a great deal of diversity and energy and range to what the festival is able to offer those who visit it. In addition to the English-language programming, we have incredibly strong regional programming, which comes in for high praise from Chennai audiences.

  Q:What is the role of authors at the festival?

  Rachna: Authors are the beating heart of the festival. Most of them are superb at communicating with their audience.We try to make sure they are comfortable and enjoy their sessions as also get to meet their readers, and fellow writers. I get a kick out of seeing them sitting in the audience to listen to other writers once their own sessions are done. So they don’t simply come to the LFL for their own sessions.And the highest compliment we get is when many of them say they would like to return —there is nothing more rewarding than to get a note from a writer asking to return to the LFL.

  Q:What is the role of publishers at the festival?

  Rachna: I’d like them to introduce their new books to me, come up with new ideas for the festival.And they’re doing that. Many of them will get in touch with me as early as March to meet and discuss how we might collaborate for the following year. More and more publishers are coming to the festival either as speakers or as readers. I love when they come to the festival just to listen to the sessions. I know that they can do so every single day, especially in a city like Delhi, so when they make a special trip to Chennai to listen, you know you’re on the right track.