Delhi Book Fair: Hidden literary treasures often lie in smaller stalls

Article written for IANS published by Economic Times, The Times of India and several others.

Books are going to be celebrated yet again. This time at the New Delhi World Book Fair — Feb 25 till March 4, following closely on the heels of the Jaipur Lit Fest (JLF) and the Kolkata Book Fair. The biennial book bonanza organised by the National Book Trust at Pragati Maidan promises to be bigger and better than before. My tip to you all: don't just flock the big stalls.

Literature knows no boundaries and certainly cannot be confined to a few. You will find hundreds of hidden treasures in the smaller stalls. And if you are lucky, you may also run into a knowledgeable and amenable publisher or bookseller there. And if you are still luckier, a meaningful and fulfilling conversation combined with a cup of tea may make your visit to the book fair really special.

When it comes to literary specials, JLF is certainly the top of the pops. Where else would you find globally acclaimed guru Deepak Chopra standing in a half-a-mile-long queue? Where else would you spot India Today group chief Aroon Purie pleading with guards who are blocking the entrance to a hall, "Please let me go in, my daughter is one of the speakers here"? And where else would you see one of India's most well-known filmmakers, Shekhar Kapoor, just lazing in the sun, may be secretly hoping that the world will take notice while hardly anyone does.

For those of you who remember my last year's article "Confessions of a Publisher Who Never Visits Jaipur Lit Fest", you will probably have guessed by now that I stand converted—into a JLF participant.

We launched our book, Whispers in the Classroom, Voices on the Field, edited by Richa Jha, at the fest. I turned a bit of a lyricist and penned a song inspired by this book, making it the first Indian book to have an independent song made for it. And I got to soak in the literary jamboree.

JLF is a fascinating place, so fascinating that at times you don't know what you are doing there. Most of the sessions are engaging, but some have age-old lines like 'Write from your heart' thrown at you. What next? 'Write with your pen'? Or better still, 'Keyboard'? But attending these sessions is an art by itself.

If you want to really sit down and participate in any of the popular ones, you've got to be an early bird, or maybe even an angry bird. It reminds you of the erstwhile British or American visa queues where you even thought of taking packed aloo paranthas along. That may have been just the right idea for an Oprah session. Or as I overheard an angry bird telling her children, 'You got to push your way through; otherwise you will never be able to do anything in life.' Tiger Mom, eh?

It is said that whatever you think of India, the reverse is also true. In this case, the paradox was just a stone's throw away from the Lit Fest. The 'Dainik Bhaskar Pustak Mela' happening in its shadows was an intriguing study in contrasts.

With Hari Om Sharan's bhajans playing in the background, tables full of scattered books, booksellers sitting in the middle and atop the pile of books and posters screaming 'Pick any book for Rs.10' or 'Limited Stock Rs.99', it was a joy to find book-lovers in reasonably good numbers there too. And when I found some of the books published by us there as well, I knew I had done my job as a publisher.

Carrying forward last year's tradition, I must make a confession, which is that I was more at home at the Pustak Mela than at the Lit Fest. May be, I have always secretly dreamed to be that bookseller sitting in the middle of the book pile.

At the New Delhi World Book Fair, if you spot somebody sitting in a similar ambience, do stop by. It will be nice to meet you.

CONFESSIONS OF A PUBLISHER WHO NEVER VISITS THE JAIPUR LIT FEST

If you think the headline of this article is an oxymoron or that I am a soiled-kurta-clad, beedi-smoking glum publisher in his sixties who hardly ventures out of his dark den full of books, let me confess it’s neither. I am fortunately a part of a rare tribe—a young first generation independent publishing entrepreneur—and considering I have survived for almost a decade now, there is a bright chance that I will be able to recount romantic stories to my grandchildren about venturing into a zone that sane men and women mostly avoided like hot fire. And you thought that dynasties meant business only in Indian politics.

Come a new year and if you are a publisher in the twenty-first century version of the city of Shahajehanabad (mind you, if you are a publisher situated in the mecca of Indian publishing—Ansari Road—you are closer to Shahajehanabad than you are to New Delhi) all you hear as parting phrases are ‘See you in Jaipur then’ or ‘I know you will be busy with Jaipur’ or the likes. Let me reiterate what I have already shared with you; I have never been to the Jaipur lit fest (JLF) and have never had a strong desire to. I find the experience of reading an evocative book more intimate than watching an author perform on a stage and going and shaking hands with him. But I urge you to not get swayed by my opinion. My track-record in such things is pathetic. Last time, when a gorgeous Bollywood superstar launched one of our dear author’s books, she almost gave up on me because of the lack of a post-great-event excitement. It was only when she saw that I was supremely excited in doing naughts and crosses on our flight back did she infer that I am just differently wired.

JLF is a great concept for Indian literature, and everyone associated with it should be commended—the festival directors—Namita Gokhale and William Dalrymple; Teamwork Productions and the sponsors DSC. Their efforts have gone a long way in making books and authors fashionable. However, there is a genuine need to make the festival more inclusive. Recently, one of the JLF directors is quoted as having announced that the onus of contacting them and participating in the festival is on independent publishers and authors. I would like to humbly submit that actually, the onus of being accessible and welcoming lies with the powerful and it will only be a positive reflection on JLF’s strength and self-confidence if they were to reach out to the larger Indian publishing world.

Let’s begin with what matters most—the authors. JLF needs to provide a platform to fresh voices and a select number of the deserving and new authors could be made part of some of the panel discussions. It could invite requests on its website with transparent parameters thrown in. Even take informal interviews if you have to! And now let’s talk about what matters even more—the books. Ten best representative books from trade publishers could be invited on a complimentary basis to be delivered straight to the venue. The books can be sold during the last two days. Visitors would be able to get a real and comprehensive flavour of Indian literature and JLF would be able to make the process a self-sustaining one. I would even suggest that like this year’s focus was ‘bhasha’ literature, the 2012’s could well be the Indies— the independent publishers and authors.

I, though, intend to do full justice to my role as a publisher and would be immediately writing to the directors of JLF to facilitate the participation of our authors. Who knows I may be sharing my thoughts with you the same time next year with a headline that says ‘Confessions of a first-time visitor to the Jaipur Literary Festival’. Till that time, keep reading.