Bookaroo 2011: celebrating the world of books

Children literary festival at its best….

Three days of celebrating books through reading, storytelling, art, craft, panel discussions, songs, a doodle wall and an illustrators' exhibition and much much more…Bookaroo 2011 had everything that kept children glued to one thing – books, books and more books…encouraging and bringing in the joy of reading.Scheduled from November 25-27, 2011, the 2011 Bookaroo, Children’s Literature Festival was held in the beautiful ambience of the Sanskriti Kendra, Anandgram, Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road, New Delhi. Started in 2008, this Children’s Literature Festival is now an annual event in New Delhi and includes Bookaroo in the City, where book related activities are held in schools across New Delhi. This year Bookaroo hosted 62 speakers from 12 countries and as part of its "outreach programme", organized reading and interaction sessions in a 100 MCD and private schools and Kendriya Vidyalayas (as a part of Bookaroo in the City programme).

Co-produced by Bookaroo and Teamworks Prooductions, the fair aims to promote Children’s literature both locally, regionally and globally.

Children flocked around The "Doodle Wall", the "Kahani Tree" and other spots where they could just have fun and what was more that the parents enjoyed seeing their kids have fun with books.

Children’s all-time favourite author Paro Anand session on book reading was a sell-out as she read out from ‘Wingless’- her book about a flightless bird. Children were equally enthusiastic at other book reading sessions by authors like Deepa Agarwal, Ramendra Kumar, Steve Skidmore and Steve Barlow, Northern Irish author John Dougherty, Poile Sengupta, Kunzang Choden and Anita Roy, Lovleen Mishra and Chatura Rao, Sandhya Rao, Deepa Balsavar, etc gave lively book reading sessions.

The Workshops organized were also a major hit with children. At the workshop of Subhadra Sen Gupta, the children displayed their intelligence quotient as Subhadra talked about history and all things past. It was followed by a quiz and the world map was explored. The session was a very interactive one. While, sliding pictures and moving frames were the highlight of the session with Satoshi Kitamura. The parents and children gaped and applauded as the wooden theatre came alive with moving stories. The guessing game had everybody working their minds and figuring out what the picture shadows meant. It was a very interactive session.

Shamini never fails to bring alive the child in everyone attending her wonderful sessions. She engaged the children in a thoughtful discussion about the steps of writing a story. Presentations were used to bring out the animation in the turtles she talked about.

While, Gregory Hughes’s calm manner always enthralls the audience and that’s what happened at his session too. He talked about how it is not cool to write in a phine voice- a voice that is put on. According to him, flowery writing doesn’t really go down well with every reader and its best to write in your own voice.

Also, the session by John Dougherty -an Irish poet, singer and writer who uses humor to make children happy all around the world, had the children grasping the benefits of reading. He narrated his experiences with books and talked about the three books he has written about the Greek God Zeus. He impressed the audience with animated interaction while informing them about the process of writing a story.

The Amphitheatre was also live with useful and interactive sessions. Samhita Arni talked about her portrayal of Sita in her graphic novel. She explores the feminist issues underlying the Ramayana. While, Arjun Kaul- the vocalist and guitarist of the band Prithvi, interwove music and stories and played music that the children enjoyed immensely. He educated them about different characters from history and folktales. The audience also had a glimpse of his original work as he played a song from his album.

Besides, Campfire organized a puppet show called Puppet Pandemonium. It was an interesting interactive session that had the kids involved with the hand puppets that narrated the stories. The kids enjoyed the different voice over’s as the happy parents looked on.

And there were so many many more…the fun was totally enigmatic.

The right mix of content & illustrations

Writing for kids is not a child’s play. It requires the 3Ps – people, place and plot, tells Subhadra Sen Gupta, a well-known children books author. And we cannot deny the fact that a kid’s book is incomplete without illustrations. As Tapas Guha puts it, “Everything is so visual…just words make the books look scary for children.’ These two professionals have worked together as well as individually to create outstanding books for children. In conversation with Varsha Verma, they reveal what it takes to make a children book.Subhadra Sen Gupta is a well-known children books author, with over twenty-five books for children and adults, with Puffin, Rupa, Scholastic, HarperCollins, Pratham, India Book House and Ratna Sagar. Three of her books—A Clown for Tenali Rama, Jodha Bai and Twelve O’Clock Ghost Stories (Scholastic)—have won the White Raven Award at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair.

While, Tapas Guha is a self taught artist. He is a commerce postgraduate from Delhi University, who loves to draw…he followed his passion and is now a well-known illustrator for children books. He has worked with almost all the leading publishers of books, newspapers, magazines and a few ad agencies.

The duo have worked together to bring out many interesting books. They also work individually as well.

Journey so far…

Writing as a hobby and writing as a professional is very different – you have to make both ends meet and still have sufficient time to write what you like. “I just wanted to write, 'professionally' was just a dream. Had to make a living as an advertising copywriter for nearly two decades before I could become a full time writer and even today it is not easy,” tells Subhadra.

While, the journey for Tapas has been a mixed one, but mostly good. “After finishing my post graduation in commerce, I realized that I didn't want to continue with a career in commerce or accountancy. I also realized I can actually draw a lot better than lot of professional artists and since then chartered my career in art. I got a lot of support from the editors, publishers and most importantly the readers,” he told.

And, being a children author was no child’s play. “It was very difficult in the early years as publishers did not think there was a market for children's books. It is only in the last 7-8 years that children's writers are being taken seriously,” tells Subhadra.

Creating for children…

“When I write for children, I keep 3P's in mind - people, place, plot. Real and interesting characters, well drawn ambience and of course a plot that gets them reading. After that you can weave in important themes like tolerance or equality and they will think about it,” she tells.

“The hardest part about writing a book is coming up with an unusual idea and of course with kids the plot is paramount. You have to keep their minds engaged. Then creating real Indian kids who talk like they do. I have a series called Foxy Four for Young Zubaan about teenagers that requires a lot of listening and talking to kids,” shares Subhadra.

Here, tapas differs, “A lot of people can draw but to translate someone else's (writer's) idea with one's own creative input which is acceptable to everyone is difficult. And while drawing for children, I frankly don't keep any factor in mind. I draw whatever I think is right, may be because I never grew up (mentally)… it's easier for me to think like the kids.”

What comes first – the story or the illustrations?

“Most of the time - the story, except in comic strips where Tapas often has a better idea than me!, tells Subhadra.

Advice to aspiring writers/illustrators…

“Start early, in school if possible. Work on your language and write the way you speak and not use big words. Work on the plotting and that takes time. Read a lot and study the books you like. Writing brings pleasures you will get addicted to and believe me, this addiction is good,” advises Subhadra.

And Tapas adds, “There are no shortcuts for hard work! Talent is 50 percent, rest is your attitude!! Wrong attitude will get you nowhere inspite of your talent.”

On reading…

Reading is a wonderful habit and to inculcate reading habit in children, Subhadra advises “What you need is a big bookcase in the house and parents who take their kids to libraries and bookshops. After that reading comes naturally. Start by regular bed time reading - great stress buster for busy parents.”

“I don't blame the kids if they hate books, any kind of books! It's the result of overburdening them with text books...now books scare them! I think books with lots of attractive colour illustrations and good packaging will help. These days everything is so visual…just 'words' makes books scary!” adds Tapas.

Both Tapas and Subhadra are avid readers. Subhadra is currently reading a historical novel Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran about Selene. “My biggest influences are Bengali writers because I try to write about my land and my people and Bengali has a rich tradition of children's literature,” she adds.

“My all time favorite have been Ruskin Bond and Satyajit Ray. In comics, I think Herge's Tintin is way above the rest…I love the simplicity of story telling in all the above three. Right now, I am enjoying Roald Dahl's Someone like you... which is a bunch of weird stories,” quips Tapas.

On likes and dislikes…

“Take it easy....follow your heart. If you absolutely enjoy doing something, go for it. You can excel only in things which you enjoy doing the most. Money isn't the last word though it is important. I love listening to soft rock music, read funny books and watch funny movies...they keep me in positive frame of mind,” tells Tapas.

While, Subhadra walks a lot, is a serious listener and encourages people to talk to her, including auto drivers and vegetable sellers. But, her greatest unwinder is sitting in the sun reading a fat book with a bag of peanuts.

On upcoming books…

“I am working on an original comic along with dear friend Subhadra Sen Gupta. ..will let you know whenever it's finally done,” adds Tapas cheerfully.

Meanwhile, Subhadra is also working on a few books. “I am starting the next Foxy Four, while Puffin's Secret Diary of the World's Worst Cook is just out. Besides, there is a coffee table book on Fatehpur Sikri for Niyogi,” concludes Subhadra.

RaveIndia book printing is an evergreen job

From pre-press to a full-fledged printing house…with everything from pre-press to post press under one roof, Rave Scan has come a long way. Stringent quality measures, top-of-the-line machinery and the desire to excel in the print production – has given Rave Scan a name to reckon with. Almost 60 percent of their turnover attributes to book printing – children books, annual books, coffee table books, etc. 

For Rave India, book printing is their main strength – short-run commercial jobs come and go but book printing is something which is a 24x7 job, which they are accomplishing with elan and ease.

“The demand for coffee table books is rising as the awareness is more and self-publishing has given wings to the creativity of many first-time authors,” told Charu of Rave India. “Earlier, coffee table books were a luxury which not everybody would keep at their homes but now the scenario has changed, even ordinary households love to flaunt them.”

“The print run for such coffee table books varies anything between 1,000-2,000 copies. These are high-end jobs and we provide the complete solution for these books. Infact, few of our customers just provide us the pictures and we develop the content and design it accordingly,” told Bhavnesh Kumar, director, Rave India, as a matter of fact.

Rave Scan also specializes in producing annual school magazines for which they provide a complete solution, right from designing to post press. “We have a tie-up with a host of schools and we provide a complete solution to them,” he added.

“Almost 60 percent of our turnover comes from books, it is an year round job for us. Balance 40 percent of our turnover comes from other print jobs,” told Rakesh Bhatnagar, managing director, Rave India adding, “Our customers are mostly Indian publishers and we feel happy servicing the local clients, though we would definitely like to go for exports as well.”

Talking about the book printing market in India, Rakesh added, “It is still less as compared to foreign market, where we find people reading books everywhere – in buses, trains, beachside – in fact everywhere. That culture is still not there in India and hence there’s still a lot of scope to grow.”

The journey of Rave India has been interesting. Starting as a pre-press house in 1993, they ventured into printing in 2004. “In 2002-2003, we visited the top industry fairs like IPEX, drupa and Frankfurt Book Fair, we realized that pre-press houses have become passé abroad. And if we have to grow, we need to diversify into printing as most of the pre-press houses had by then become a part of the printing area – they were just an ancillary structure,” reminisced Rakesh.

With a workforce of over 400 individuals, Rave India is busy servicing a number of publishers, schools and corporate. “We have all facilities under one roof – pre-press, press and post press. Though we are proud to say that we have an impressive line of machines for our pre-press and press units, we still need to strengthen our post press section,” he added.

Combined together in their three units in Naraina, their press units house Heidelberg XL 105 4 colour machine, two Heidelberg SM 74 5-colour machine, one Heidelberg SM 102 4-colour machine and one Heidelberg single colour machine, besides KBA Planeta VCVD 5-colour CPC with coater, KBA Planeta P-44 with alcohol dampener and KBA Planeta P-24 2-colour machine.

While, their post press segments house one Perfecta program cutting machine, four Heidelberg Polar program cutting machine, five Stahl folding machines, one Muller Martini flowline saddle stitcher, two 6 clamp perfect binder, three saddle stitchers, two thermal and two wet lamination machines, two nipping machines, two shrink wrapping machines, one creasing and perforation machines, two bundling machines, one die-cutting machine, one Sakurai Maestro online coater with UV conveyer and three Muller Martini section sewing machines, etc.

Talking about their new unit in Gurgaon, Rakesh informed, ‘Right now, we have two printing machines in our Gurgaon office – Heidelberg CD 102 4-colour preset and Heidelberg CD 102 4+L preset and most probably, we might go for a complete packaging unit there.”

“We have been expanding for the last five years and so are not eyeing any major expansion this year. Last year, we experienced a growth of 35 percent than previous year and the first four months of the new financial year has given us a growth of 46 percent over the same period last year. We are targeting a growth of 50 percent this financial year,” echoed Rakesh and Bhavnesh. “Also, we might go for IPO after sometime and then plan for major expansion,” concluded Rakesh.

Joy of publishing through literary agents

You have written a manuscript but do not know where to get it published - contact a literary agent and leave your worries behind – he/she will evaluate your manuscript, find a suitable publisher, get it published and promote it as well. Varsha Verma delves into the importance and role of literary agents in the publishing world. 

In literal sense, literary agents are the agents who represent writers and their written works to publishers and theatre/film producers and assists in the sale and deal negotiation of the same. They are paid a fixed percentage (ten to twenty percent) of the proceeds of sales they negotiate on behalf of their clients. First-time authors, with no publishing experience, often turn to literary agents to get their works published. Increasingly, even published authors now work with literary agents as they can get guidance in terms of the market, publishing contracts and practices, copyrights, etc.

Though this concept is still in its infancy in India, but is getting its share of recognition. Many literary agents have emerged in the market and are doing a good job of bridging the gap between the authors and publishers.

Literary agents – the link between writers and publishers…

So what exactly do the literary agents do? “Literary agents are a significant and important link between writers and publishers. For writers, we ascertain that publishers give them the requisite attention and their voices are represented. For the publishers, we do the job of sending in manuscripts which are worth publishing so it does help them in that manner,” says Mita Kapur, CEO, Siyahi – a leading literacy agency in India at Jaipur.

Boon for writers…

First-time authors or even the published ones, sometimes do not know which would be the right publisher for them. Besides, they do not have the time for the same and for them, literary agents ease out the things for them.

“In recent years there have been platforms such as e-books, vanity publishing and self publishing whereby people can get their work published. An agent works with traditional publishers and finds the best fit for their authors work; hence their exposure with publishers and high profile authors has increased. I think as authors become more dependent on their agents, the agent’s prominence has grown,” says Sherna Khambatta of Sherna Khambatta Literary Agency, Mumbai, another actively involved literary agency in India.

“I am actively involved in the entire process with the author from the time the manuscript is written (with constant contact, editorial feedback and support) to the point when the book is available at stores and thereafter its’ regular availability and promotion,” she adds.

Her views were supported by Mita, who adds, “We make it a point to be there for our authors always which is what they want - substantial and worthwhile creative attention.”

“For authors based in India, having an agent locally who understands the market, has contact with publishers and can support them through the writing process - I think gives them the time and space to do what they know best - i.e. writing and leaving on us to take care of the rest,” adds Sherna proudly.

Boon for publishers…

But, why would a publisher work with a literary agent? Well, every publisher gets a pile of manuscripts everyday – they need to read and choose the right one for them. Working with an agent is easier as the agent knows whether the manuscript would fit in their genre.

As Sherna puts it, “A literary agent brings about more structure into the publishing world and decreases the slush pile for publishers. Rather than going through thousands of unsolicited work, editors can rely on agents to send work that would interest them and is of a specific standard.”

While we tried to contact a few publishers on their say on the role of literary agents in India, we could not get concrete views as the concept is still new in the industry.

Journey of literary agents in India…

Since the concept is still in its nascent stage in India, how has been the journey of the literary agents in India? “The greatest joy is seeing a first time’s author’s elation on seeing their book in print and in stores. Being a part of the process of making someone’s dream come true of being a published author is I believe the greatest success. On the flipside, distribution and the lack of organisation in the sector are ongoing battles that one has to face and deal with,” shares Sherna.

While Mita adds, “It’s a lot of dedicated, passionate, committed hard work and also a lot of fun. It’s been challenging and yet a fulfilling experience for Siyahi. I really don’t know how to measure success neither do I wish to express any discontent - every start up has its fair share of highs and lows and we are no different. For us at Siyahi, we are constantly looking at moving beyond what we have managed to work at and keep every aspect of the agency alive and vibrantly so. We are always looking out for different genres and have extended our scope to include genres which are just not fiction, poetry or non-fiction but also to do with various fields of the arts, business, food, travel, humour – it’s great fun.”

On a concluding note…

As a message to the publishing fraternity, Mita says, “We need to be aware of not accepting mediocrity at any stage.” While Sherna concludes, “As India has a growing middle class with increased literacy, I hope that publishing and reading will be taken to new heights. I do hope that in time to come authors earn more and are given better support, media coverage and exposure.”

“Children can be the best children writers”

says Tanya Luther Agarwal, a well-known children author in conversation with Varsha Verma. 

Children authors have always been looked at with awe and respect…because our children grow reading their works which give wings to their imagination. We always want to know more about them – where does all these beautiful imaginations comes from? Meet Tanya Luther Agarwal, who has penned more than seven dozens of children books, which have excited and nurtured young minds with their subtle but clear messages. What makes her write, what excites her imagination, what more can we expect from her – here’s a brief.

Writer-by accident…

Tanya became a full-time writer quite by accident. “I was attending a workshop with my son which was conducted by my mentor and well-known children author Paro Anand who was an editor with Rupa & Co at that time. It so happened that I had written a short story and my friend persuaded me to show my story to Paro. I was on top of the world when Paro told that she had liked the story and wanted me to put in some dialogues to make it more interesting. My bright spark of creativity came into action and my first book Jellybean Story was published in 2002,” remembered Tanya fondly.

On first book…

“Jellybean story is about a Jellybean store, I attended in US. At that store, I found that they also stocked a few irregular jellybeans, which ofcourse were cheaper than the rest. Children to the store clamoured for beautiful regular-shaped jellybeans and no one bothered to take a look at the irregular ones. That’s how the idea clicked in my mind – why are we all so conditioned that we don’t want to see imperfections in life. And that was the theme of my book, which was well-received by the readers,” conveyed Tanya proudly.

Since then, there has been no looking back….one book followed the next and so on…today Tanya has 75 published children books.

On writing on environment-friendly subjects…

Tanya tried her hand at the first environment based graphic novels in the country for a project by ONGC (published by TERI Press) which were a big hit. She penned a similar environment-friendly book on ‘Cellphone recycling’ for leading cellphone manufacturer Nokia as well. So popular was this book that it was also translated in Swedish language by Nokia.

She penned a few more books for TERI Press on environment-based issues. “I was given a project on ‘Weird & Wonderful’ series in which we informed children about the weird but beautiful things which nature has given us. It was a great fun to do this series as it required indepth research. The publishers gave me creative freedom and I came up with really interesting stuff for the young minds,” exclaimed Tanya.

On other educational projects…

Tanya has not confined herself to fiction; she has authored a series of English comprehension books for Scholar’s Hub, a series of picture composition books, besides developing curriculum for many schools for various projects, etc. She has also done script writing for plays at various schools.

Before her stint with writing, she had conducted various workshops on parenting and sex education, both in groups and one-to-one basis at Indian School. Tanya has a background in psychology which comes handy in all her workshops and her writing.

From workshops to writing…

“I left my job at the school when my father expired – I was grieving and did not want to go out. I preferred to stay at home and write for hours and hours. That probably was my way of coping with the stress,” told Tanya. Interestingly, Tanya’s father was an artist himself – he wrote and he could play all musical instruments.

On writing for children…

“Infact, a child of 3-4 years of age is always full of awe. For him, anything and everything is exciting. If you can think like a 3-4 year old, you can come up with really imaginative and awesome content. Personally speaking, children can be the best children writers,” she said confidently.

“On a conscious level, writing for children is really difficult but if you transport yourself to your childhood and think about what made you go awe, it is not difficult to write. Ofcourse, I do have my share of difficult moments but they are because I am bonded and restricted by my own mature thinking. And, when I try and become free-spirited, it flows easily,” told Tanya as a matter of fact. “No pointers should be kept when you write for children, it has to be free-flowing and uninhibited initially and then it needs to be edited and fine tuned,” she added.

On ideas and inspirations…

For Tanya, the story ideas are the culmination of life experiences at a sub-conscious or conscious level. “Sometimes, what you have seen several years ago comes as a flash - that could be a moment of inspiration. The idea is not to focus and think too much…just go with the flow. Infact, writing for children in therapeutic in itself,” she added. “Sometimes, I finish my story in a couple of hours and at times, it extends to a few days,” added Tanya.

Own children…biggest critics…

For Tanya, her biggest critics stay in her home – her children. “Both my son and daughter are both my sounding board as well as my biggest critics. Whenever I share my ideas with them, they will come up with their suggestions – what appeals to them, what does not. This gives me an insight into the mind of children as well,” laughed Tanya.

On her skills…

Tanya attributes her success to her strong work ethics – hard work, discipline and commitment. “I like challenges and am excited to write on new subjects. I know I can write on any subject and whatever I create, will be interesting for the child and can engage the child,” told Tanya proudly. “But, I can’t market myself. My work speaks for me. It gives an insight into who I am and what I am capable of. Also, I believe that there should be some mystery about the writer because a writer cannot be bigger than his/her characters.”

On recent project…

“Right now, I am working on a curriculum development project wherein I am preparing modules for CSR activities for NGOs in various fields like English language, health & hygiene.”

On her future plans…

Tanya feels that she has a long way to go. “I attend a lot of writing workshops to hone my skills. Infact, there’s so much to learn about the craft of writing – it is a process of learning constantly. The idea is to do better than what you did before, package it differently and develop the characters in a different way. I want each book to be better than the previous ones,” concluded Tanya.

CAPEXIL organises seminar

A horde of entrepreneurs engaging in exports business of books, packaging materials, and others thronged the seminar titled ‘Import-Export Financing’ organised by HSBC in association with CAPEXIL. 

Unfolding of the event held on June 24, 2011 in New Delhi was marked by a welcome address by Sukumar Das, chairman, Northern Region, CAPEXIL followed by subsequent presentations by a panel of experts comprising Niraj Gupta, branch manager, ECGC; Akshat `Sharma, manager–trade & supply chain sales North India, HSBC; and Varsha Verma, associate editor, S-Media Group. Talks on business developments at the ‘Import-Export Financing’ reinforced a relevance of India’s growing economy and exhorted everyone attending the seminar to make a transition in their business to a new route of volume and profit. Credit risks insurance covers, import-export financing and effective utilisation of print documents and internet were the focuses extensively articulated.

Getting rid of risks

(L-R) Varsha Verma, Niraj Gupta, Sukumar Das and Akshat Sharma

ECGC’s presentation on Export Credit Guarantee Schemes underlined guaranteed offerings to banks and financial institutes to help exporters obtain better facilities. Referring a string of risk covers offerings like Banking Credit Advances for Exports, Post-Shipment Advances for Purchase/Discounting/Negotiation of Export Bills, Shipment Comprehension Risk Policy and others, Niraj explained ECGC’s diverse credit risk insurance covers against loss in exports of goods and services. “We don’t directly cover the risks of the exporters but provide covers to the financing banks in the pre-shipment,” he mentioned.

Citing data of global business failure reports by June 2011, Niraj stated that payments for exports are open to risks even at the best of times. “The risks have assumed large proportions today due to economic and political crises, wars and other social factors sweeping across the world,” he said adding exporters may face commercial risks of insolvency or protracted default of buyers. ECGC’s export credit insurance is designed to protect exporters from the consequences of the payment risks, both political and commercial. “It is quite challenging to offer our risk covers schemes, which have limited scopes but vastly useful,” proclaimed Niraj.

Export bill discounting

Bumping up the business of exporters, HSBC offers DC discounting, in which they buy the bill of exchange or promissory note before it is due and credits the value after a discount charge to the exporter’s account. This was the main theme being spotlighted at HSBC’s presentation during the seminar. “We offer discounting of both domestic as well as foreign LCs, presentable to the nominated banks in ‘with’ and ‘without’ recourses,” explained Akshat.

Roles of print and internet

After the inspiring sessions on credit schemes and finance policies, closure of the seminar got into an exclusive presentation of how ‘print and internet’ can boost business potential of the export companies. “Brochures, business cards, newsletters and other business-related documents are not merely papers for communication but helps companies significantly impress their clients and represent overall demeanour of the establishment,” explicated Varsha. She also mentioned the significance of content, design and using of best quality papers, advanced printing technology to produce the documents to cast an impressive spell on customers.

In addition to all good deeds of printing advances, Varsha also specified the role of internet in business promotion. She explained the way an export firm can develop their official website, blog, interaction forum, social network media, etc to pull attentions of browsers/customers. In her explanation to an attendee’s question on ‘search engine optimisation’ tool in online advertising, she pointed out how the technology helps website receive optimum hits. End of the seminar was not the end in the real sense as attendees expressed their keenness to correspond with the speakers via mails to put up further queries on the topics they discussed.

Creating joyful and accessible content…

Lively conversation and discussion, the camaraderie and the coming together of so many minds and hearts to create a reading nation – what more could you ask for? That was how one felt at Pratham Books’ Sabha 2011, a gathering of minds engaged in multilingual books for children, which was attended by more than 100 writers, translators and illustrators.

Pratham Books

Pratham Books, a not-for-profit publisher that creates quality books for children, definitely needs no introduction. Their mission is to put ‘a book in every child’s hand.’ With 201 titles, 1,300 books, 8 million story books, 8 million story cards…and a readership of 25 million…Pratham Books is indeed working towards its mission.

More recently, they organized Sabha 2011, a gathering of more than 100 writers, translators and illustrators engaged in crafting multilingual books for children. The excitement at the event was infectious – everybody applauding the wonderful work that the authors and illustrators together create.

The keynote address was given by Rohini Nilekani, chairperson, Pratham Books. She raised a point that books need to reach the hands of the children for which platforms need to be built, better libraries need to be set-up – there’s lot to do in this wonderful world of reading books. “Power comes from knowledge, which needs to be transmitted through books,” she added. She also stressed that it is the books that have the ability to create empowered citizens of tomorrow. “And this is possible when children have some joyful stuff to read,” she iterated. Interestingly, Pratham Books has reached 5 million books but this is nowhere where they want to reach. “There are 347 million children in India and we want to reach all of them,” she concluded.

This informative address was followed by a presentation on Pratham Books by Suzanne Singh, managing trustee, Pratham Books. She started off by citing the facts that for 347 million children in India, there are just 15 million books produced by the organized publishers annually. “This is negligible as compared to 30 million books for 12 million children in UK,” she told. Another important point to ponder is that India has 22 languages and 1,600 dialects and the books are predominantly produced in English and Hindi. “There are great gaps in languages, especially Urdu. And this really led the Pratham books seeing a book in every child’s hand. We are working towards democratizing the joy of reading, where every child gets to read,” she added.

It is indeed a feat that Pratham Books started offering books at a rate of Rs 25 seven years back and they still continue to do so. “Ofcourse, we have books that are priced more but those are different kinds of books which need a higher pricing, catering to the needs of both rural and urban children. But, the quality of all books is excellent, the paper used is good quality paper and all the books are produced is minimum five languages. So far, we have covered 11 languages and are adding the 12th language – Malayalam this year. Another feather in the cap would be books on plays, for which hardly any books are available,” added Suzanne. She further told that Pratham Books is always on the lookout for innovations in product, distribution and technology. They even produce a Rs 2 book, which is a four page book with a small story with illustrations and which is a major hit in rural areas. They have also put a bunch of books online, where anybody can download the book and use it. “Hence, without any extra effort, our books have been translated into audio books and Braille as well. Majority of our books posted online have been downloaded in Nepal and used for ‘One laptop per child’ scheme,” told Suzanne proudly.

“As of now, we have a print run of 10,000-15,000 copies for every title we produce and the moment it goes up to 50,000, Pratham Books will become a self-sustainable enterprise. We are able to give books in the range of Rs 2-25 and we would really appreciate if we could bring down the cost to 50 p in future,” she concluded.

Then, there was an interesting panel discussion on ‘Creating joyful and accessible content for new readers,’ moderated by Manisha Chaudhry, head of content at Pratham Books. Rukmini Banerji, trained economist and author of several children books shared her experiences about the learning they got through various activities conducted by Pratham Books. She cited a particular incident where they were given a budget of Rs 10,000 to procure 300-400 books for children and they were not able to spend even half of the amount because the books available in that price segment were very few. “Hence, at Pratham Books, we first focused on the books for early readers. Many books have evolved through our interaction with children,” she told excitedly.

Another panelist Shudhasatva Basu, a well-known illustrator, painter and animator, stressed that though word is the best medium to communicate, visual language is very important to converse with children as it can be imaginative and filled with various emotions like fantasy, irony, humour, etc. He gave a glimpse of many of his illustrations used in books.

Anushka Ravishankar, well-known writer of nonsense verses, shared how as a writer, she creates content for joyful reading. She read out her famous verses ‘Today is my day’ and ‘To market!’ and displayed images of the book for everyone to see and feel the effect of illustrations. She added that it as a joy to create these verses but they became more alive with the excellent work of the illustrators. “Children are more alike than different and anything written with joy will be taken up by all children, whether he is a new reader or not,” she concluded.

Yet another panelist Paro Anand, a writer or children and young adult, who is known for her writings on how terrorism impacts children, told that she started writing animal plays and later when she became a part of ‘Literature in action’ programmes, which goes to villages and interacts with children and donates books, she started writing about the impact of terrorism on children. She cited various incidents which became an inspiration for her books.

This interesting session was followed by an open house where the audience interacted with the panelists on the author-illustrator relationship. While a few authors stressed on the importance of briefing the illustrator about the book, others stressed that when illustrators have a free hand, the creativity is better. A consensus was achieved that there is no thumb rule for it.

Later, Gautam John gave a brief presentation on ‘Creative Commons’ where people can post their content and give restrictive permission to use it. The vote of thanks was given by Sandhya Takshale and marked the end of the energetic and exciting Sabha 2011.