Publishers On Publishing

by Nitasha Devasar

  Q:What is your view on indigenous literature finding its way to readerships outside the country?

  Mini: I think India, which was once captured by the British, has now captured English, and opened up a parallel universe for its writers and translators to travel in. Having said that, both serious studies and hastily cobbled articles based on interviews with writers and publishers over the last two years reveal that outside India, very little of our huge literary output—contemporary or otherwise—is being read anywhere in the world.We are a literary supercontinent but as dark as Krishna and as difficult to reach.Yet one half of the literary brigade of India—in which I include myself—loves to daydream that its indigenous literature simply has to find its way to readerships outside the country. Should we worry so much about exporting our writings? Right here in our midst there are readers who could enjoy Indian writing—except that they do not know what is available out there. Millions of Indians can read, but know nothing or very little about Indian writers simply because they have not been introduced to them or trained to admire them: great, not so great, old, modern, and very new and nearly all of them unheard of outside their regional-language islands.Well, the picture of us with our Indianlanguage writers shows that the rest of the globe is fairly safe from us: our

  writers have not penetrated any other culture’s consciousness deeply. Indian Literature Abroad (ILA) was a Government of India venture supported by the Ministry of Culture and the brainchild of U.R. Ananthamurthy and Ashok Vajpeyi. I was on the advisory and working panel along with Namita Gokhale and other luminaries.We even prepared an exhaustive catalogue for it. But the programme was shifted to Sahitya Akademi.We do have a marvellous machinery in place: the Sahitya Akademi and the regional Academies. If they could collaborate with private publishers, it would be a wonderful thing.

  Q:What tips would you like to give to translators today? Mini: According to me, three things a translator might keep in mind. First, patience: listen carefully to what the author is saying. Listen to how it is being said. Don’t exaggerate either the substance or the tone.Then, translation is about a reader becoming a writer and offering a strong phantom voice to someone on the other side of the wall. Remember that you are translating both for someone who might be functioning well in the source language without being able to read it, as well as for someone who has never even visited the linguistic state where the source language originates.And third is to take care to use not just accurate echoes and recasts but keeps an eye on appropriate registers.You cannot use elevated Latinized English when you are translating the speech of say domestics or unlettered characters or a young child.‘Desist’ and ‘enumerate’ are not words that a vegetable seller or rag-picker would use in their language. So use your imagination!

  Q:What is the future of translations in India?

  Mini: I would say that the future of translations is very vibrant. In academia, it is a gold mine for research. In the trade market, it is like Aladdin’s Cave full of treasures—national treasures.Translation holds hands with other disciplines: women’s studies, caste studies, rural histories and political biographies. Personal histories in the form of autobiographies are an archive waiting to be discovered.Then there is drama and poetry, the performing arts, which comes back with double strength when translated

  for an audience which does not share the original language of the work. In future, I look forward to more translations, more memoirs through OUP. I’m the consulting editor of a prestigious and ambitious project of Malayalam–English translations planned by the Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University, Calicut, which plans to hold hands with multiple publishers like Orient BlackSwan, Penguin Random House,Yoda Books, Navayana,Women Unlimited, Juggernaut and OUP to support the publication of translated texts. Rs 50,00,000 has been earmarked in the current budget of the university for this project.

  mini krishnan is Translations Editor at Oxford University Press India. She is involved in sourcing fiction, plays, travelogues, autobiographies and biographies from sixteen Indian languages. She consults for Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University’s translation programme, and writes two monthly columns for The Hindu. Mini also

  selects short fiction in translation for Frontline.

  39 ChIlDren’s PuBlIshIng anD translatIons

  “Creating culture links within our country”

  Geeta Dharmarajan Q:Trace the history of Katha. How, when and why did you start? GD: I happened to walk into the UNICEF office one day and found that 400 children in India are dying of diarrhoea every day, which made me think how important it is to maintain hygiene. In 1988, I conceptualized and launched Tamasha! the health and environment magazine for first-generation schoolgoers, taking big ideas to small kids in a fun way through stories. Tamasha! is a friendly elephant who has set the tone, pace and culture of everything we do since then. In an effort to keep the magazine alive, I designed, edited and wrote most of the stories for nearly a decade. Tamasha! reached out to over 800,000 children across India, in six languages with a print run of 100,000 copies.

  This was the precursor to the ‘profit-for-all’ social organization, Katha, that we got registered in 1989. Tamasha! is still the teaching tool par excellence in Katha schools, and the inspiration behind our inclusive work with children and communities.Today, Katha schools are centres of community activism and resurgence, fun and laughter.We are a very philosophical organization and we want to see children as the masters of their own futures.

  Q: Tamasha! also became an important tool for introducing children to India’s diverse languages and cultures.Tell us how this came about. GD: From the first issue, we started introducing different languages and literatures in Tamasha! The first issue had a poem by Sukumar Ray,

  illustrated by Atanu Roy.The constant effort was to take translation to children and to introduce other cultures to them.We wanted them to celebrate heterogeneity, linguistic diversity, diversity in culture, thinking, food and faith.We want our children to be tolerant and celebrate the diversity that India has.

  Q: Katha’s byline is ‘Translating Stories,Transforming Lives’.Tell us something about it.

  GD: At the other end of the spectrum, our work in Indian culture and literature stems from our strong belief in translation as an important tool to understand ourselves and as a culture link within the country— horizontally, vertically and historically. In the beginning, when we started translating stories, we took them to women and youth who were undertrials in Tihar Jail.There were a few children also, who were allowed to stay with their mothers till the age of 10.We wanted to inculcate kindness and empathy in them.We also wanted to grow their imagination and make them realize their sense of being.We handed them stories that gave them strength and made them believe they could be what they wanted to be.We were able to put dreams into their eyes which seemed very blank. On the other hand, we also talked to them and they shared their stories, which translated into verbal expression. So we were translating stories, transforming lives in a true sense.

  Q:Tell us about the translations done at Katha? How are the texts and languages chosen?

  GD: Known as one of the top ten publishers in the country with a strong pan-Indian community of writers, translators, academics and editors, Katha works from a base of 21 languages for the 21st century, and has published more than 350 of India’s best language writers.The 21st language is a tribal language and we started translations with adult literature.We found translation was not just about words and sentences.We wanted the reader of the translation to feel the pull of emotion the characters in the stories are going through.We wanted to maintain the earthy tone of the language. The translation process begins with a feeling that it is a great story and we

  need to bring it to a pan-Indian audience and that’s what happens at Katha. We have been the springboard for many young writers and top literary translators today. In order to unearth the rich talent in the various Indian languages, we conceptualized and launched the Katha Awards for Short Fiction in 199
0.These are now recognized as one of the leading nationallevel awards for writers, translators and editors.

  Q:What is the role of translations? Why are translations important? GD: In a multi-cultural country like India, translation is a very important thing. It helps to culture-link.With stories, we get to know about other cultures, heritage and traditions.We need to change the stereotypes existing for various regions.We need to change our mindset and we want to see ourselves as people of India, and not as majority or minority community.Translations help us to do so.

  Q: How has the translations landscape changed over time? With so many big English-language publishers entering the arena, would you agree that translations have become mainstream and are no longer a niche?

  GD: Even with English-language publishers entering the translation arena, it is still a niche segment.When Katha started in 1988 with translations, Penguin had also started its translations imprint in 1987 but it was for a different audience.When we look at India, we are in a very unique position.We write, translate, publish and critique for ourselves. That’s not the case elsewhere.Very little of our work was reaching outside of India as there was, and still is, a huge population of readers in the country.That clarity was always there at Katha and we knew there are certain words which can be understood by all and so we were able to retain the essence in translations.

  I am happy with mainstream publishers getting into translations. With the kind of translations coming now, I am happy to see the diversity and richness.

  Q:What do you think this means for translations in the next

  few years? GD: There are two concerns for translations. One is that that whatever rules or parameters are there are for adult translations.Then, there is a big gap in the practice of translation in the world of academia.The amount of translation writings in magazines, newspapers or review journals has gone down greatly.Translated books are not reviewed much. So, as translators, there is nothing with which we can hone the art and craft of translation.

  The second concern is in children’s translations as there is no academic field for it.There are no transmission laws, terms of endearment, terms of abuse, etc.

  Q:What is Katha’s focus, in this context, for the next few years? GD: Katha’s focus for the next few years would be to get an academic field for children’s translations.We want academia to think about it. We wish to do a lot more translations for children and we want literary culture-linking to happen. Old writers are still relevant in India and we want our children to know more about their writings.

  Q: Given the decline in the reading habit and equally the need to provide access to reading and materials to more and more of our younger population, what is Katha’s role?

  GD: When we generally talk about decline in reading habits amongst children, we talk of children sitting in big schools in metropolitan cities, but that’s just 20 per cent of children in India.Almost 80 per cent children have a great hunger for reading; even if they can’t read, they appreciate a book, right from children in Bihar to Uttar Pradesh to Tamil Nadu to tribal villages.

  We have 300 million children in school, of whom, studies indicate, 50 per cent can read and 50 per cent cannot. If each one of us can make a child read, then the problem is solved.That’s what Katha aims at! Reading is a basic skill; we can’t talk about upskilling our younger population until they know how to read. If you want upward mobility, reading is a crucial skill.

  Q:Tell us about your programme for educating 300 million children and spreading the reading habit.

  GD: The 300 Million Challenge or the 300 M Challenge as we call it, comes from that fact that there are 300 million children in India. If all 5 to10-year-old children read for fun and for meaning, they will be prepared to bring change to themselves and society.With its firm roots, Katha has forged 120 strategic alliances and partnerships that will help tackle this massive challenge and bring reading to all children of India.

  Q:What is your take on e-books?

  GD: I believe in e-books and technology. Physical books are important for a large number of children, but we have to be future-ready when we will have good connectivity and mobile phones in India.We are working on e-books and there is a lot of experimentation and innovation happening at our end. Katha Digital Lab is working very hard as we need to catch up with the changing times.

  Q:Tell us something about your reading campaign and writers’ workshops.

  GD: Katha was started in 1988 to enhance the joy of reading. We realized that unless children know how to read, we cannot give them the joy of reading. So we started the first Katha Lab School or ‘deschool’ in 1990 with five children in Govindpuri, one of the largest slum clusters in Delhi. Over 191,190 children have been in Katha schools since then. The special ‘Story Pedagogy’ centred on story has been in use in Katha learning centres since 1992.This curriculum and pedagogy has helped increase attendance and retention levels in the schools to over 80 per cent. Learning happens with stories.We have our own assessment systems. It is skill-based learning.

  Writers’ workshops are organized to celebrate the writing capacity of children in our country. It is about writing and expressing oneself better.When we write, we understand ourselves.We are not looking at great writers but at the act of writing. India is blessed with lot of not-for

  profits looking at children who are underprivileged, and opening doors for them into the future.We are not only conducting writers’ workshops in schools but also in 700 different slums.We have tied up with Amazon and we will publish stories of slum children.

  Q:What do you aim for in the next five years?

  GD: I want every child to read and I am optimistic that if all of us can join in, we can do it.We have one lakh volunteers with us and there are 600 volunteers on LinkedIn wanting to join.Together, we can make the world a kinder place for everyone. I think we all are compassionate and have empathy for others and we can create a world which is more peaceful and fun-loving. If this happens, I will be the happiest person on this earth.

  geeta dharmarajan is Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Katha.A writer, editor and educationist, Geeta is interested in learning across boundaries. Her work has focused on education, especially for children from economically poor families, and on linking India’s diverse cultures, values and traditions through translations. Her interests have shaped the inclusive and integrated work of Katha and its various activities in the fields of literature and literary translation,

  community activism and education. 40

  the tulIka Books story “giving direction to niche publishing” Indira (Indu) Chandrasekhar

  Q:Trace the history of Tulika: how, why and when did you start, the initial days, and the growing pains and struggles of Indie publishing. Indu: Tulika started in the late 1980s as a DTP unit, a company that exists till date, as Tulika Print Communication Services.This venture was started by Radhika Menon and me—but always with the intention of moving into book publishing ourselves. Radhika later moved to Chennai and set up Tulika Publishers in 1996, publishing children’s books, while I started Tulika Books, publishing academic books, in 1995.

  So,Tulika Books has been in the academic books segment of Indian publishing for more than 22 years now. My own training was in academic publishing as I started my career in the higher education division of Macmillan India in 1980. I have been associated with academia from the very beginning of my working days as several close friends including my husband teach at universities, and I have had teaching stints at colleges in Bangalore and Delhi myself. So you could say that my training in publishing, as well as natural surroundings and personal interests led me towards academic publishing, as it were, and to set up Tulika Books, which is one of the early small and independent publishing houses in India.The path of independent publishing, of course, was laid by the first independent publishing house in India—Kali for Women, founded in the mid/late 1980s, which published feminist books, and which is now represented by two publishing houses,Women Unlimited and Zubaan, set up by the
co-founders of Kali. Independent publishing started proliferating and flourished in the 1990s.And today, the publishing scene

  in India is marked by several independent publishing houses. Q:Why do you call yourself independents?

  Indu:We call ourselves independents because most of us are professionals who came out of the world of book publishing to set up our own publishing houses, giving direction to lists with focused political content as well as niche publishing.

  Q: How does independent publishing continue to thrive and grow in spite of the challenges?

  Indu: I believe that we actually have an advantage as independents in today’s publishing environment.We have remained small and concentrated on bringing out books in our particular areas, which cater to a defined readership—we are not generalist publishers like most of the large publishing houses, is what I mean. Because of the kind of content we develop and since our lists have a defined focus, we are able to gain visibility for the kind of work we do. Many of us have remained small by design, and this helps us to add value to the books we publish. Independents have fairly rigorous editorial processes in place; out-of-thebox thinking where formats and production values are concerned; we seek out and nurture new authors; we take risks by publishing in areas where large publishing houses, especially multinationals and corporates, shy away due to higher visibility and the play-safe attitude that often comes with that.

  Another advantage with Tulika and most independents is that we have a strong backlist that we do not allow to die. One practical reason for this has been that smaller publishers are able to keep stocks of books for longer periods of time since the problem of warehousing is relatively small as compared to that of bigger publishers. Further, speaking for Tulika, the strong content we offer in many of the academic disciplinary areas ensures that successive generations of students come back to our books—and so we ensure that they are always in print. For example, Essays in Indian History:Towards a Marxist Perception, a collection of essays by the historian Irfan Habib of Aligarh Muslim University, which was Tulika’s first book, published in 1995—we reprint this every alternate