The picture is complete

Meet Hamish McDonald, the man behind Ambani & Sons

When it comes to understanding the lives of big people, we approve or disapprove of, between covers we generally get sensitised hagiographies. So when Hamish McDonald, a seasoned journalist with a reputation of rubbing the big and mighty the wrong way came up with Polyester Prince, an unauthorised biography of Dhirubhai Ambani, we were surprised. But the reaction of the powers that decide what we should read was on predictable lines. The book was banned in India. Now many summers later, when the scenario is a bit different, Hamish has put together another book that tries to uncover the inside story of Reliance. Called Ambani & Sons, the Roli publication goes on to dissect the fracas that followed in the family two years after Dhirubhai's demise.

“The general pattern here is such that business biographers generally go the hagiographic or friendly way at best. It happened with J.R.D. Tata,” says Hamish who has served in Jakarta, Hong Kong, Beijing and New Delhi. He says when the subject requires a hard study, the author comes up with an affectionate work. “There is a question of access as well,” says Hamish whose book on Suharto was banned in Indonesia.

Full report here Hindu

I know what you read this summer

Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight saga, Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games series, the Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan: the names trip easily off their tongues. But ask them about Young Adult (YA) books written by Indian authors that rolled off the presses this past summer and you hear a studied silence.

“I generally don’t read books by Indian authors,” says Kinnisha Michellin Andrew, a third-year student of Mount Carmel college.

Andrew, a voracious reader, gets most of her recommendations for books from her college peer group or from social networks for bookworms (Shelfari, Goodreads). She is currently reading the latest in the Hunger Games series (Mockingjay) and Name of the Wind, the first book in yet another fantasy series The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss.

The hyper-success of Twilight was supposed to draw all these young readers into bookstores and into exploring the burgeoning YA literature from India. This past summer, a large number of young Indian writers have published their books; among them are Samit Basu with his Terror on the Titanic: A Morningstar Agency Adventure, star blogger Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan with The Confessions of a Listmaniac, Vodafone-Crossword book award winner Siddhartha Sarma with The Grasshopper’s Run (all three published by Scholastic India), Giti Chandra with The Fang of Summoning (Hachette India) and Tushar Raheja with Run Romi Run (Roli).

Full report here DNA

‘Times have changed’

Hamish McDonald’s previous book — An Unauthorised Biography published in 1998 — The Polyester Prince: The Rise Of Dhirubhai Ambani met with legal resistance from Reliance Industries. Its Indian publisher HarperCollins withdrew from the project. It was published by Australian publisher Allen & Unwin, but was denied permission for sale in India. So the lack of opposition to his new book Ambani & Sons has intrigued McDonald and everybody else. Especially since the book draws heavily from the old one. It is equally controversial, including errors such as a Kashmir-less map of India. BW’s Rajeev Dubey met McDonald in Delhi. Excerpts from the interview:

How sure are you the new book won’t meet with Reliance’s resistance?
There were injunctions, not a ban. They took objection to a number of passages. It was a company application, not in the name of Dhirubhai Ambani. We’ve had no communication, and there was no response to my messages to the brothers asking if they wanted to talk about the update. Now Roli Books has actually published it, and brought it out in the shops and, so far, there is no legal activity from Reliance or either of the brothers. It may be early days, but the signals Roli Books is getting are that times have changed. The Ambanis are much more sanguine about criticism.

Did Roli check with the Ambanis before publishing this book?
Not at all. Roli studied the book closely. Had their lawyers run through the book.

Tell us about the attempts you made to get the Ambani side of the story.
In the previous version, I had had some interviews and contacts with the Ambanis — father, and mostly with Anil. I had met Mukesh rather formally. I asked Dhirubhai (in 1995) that I wanted to write a book about the rise of Reliance. I suppose he was both flattered and alarmed. I said I would show him the manuscripts if he wanted to argue any of the points. That I would hear what he said, but the author’s right would be mine. He said that would be fair. As I got closer to the controversies such as the Isle of Mann companies, the access to the circle of friends and Reliance was cut off. I rang up Dhirubhai’s secretary, and he said the wish was that the book should not come out.

Full report here Businessworld

Why civilisations clash in India

Log toot jate jain ek ghar banane mein, tum taras khate nahin bastiyan jalane mein. This couplet, written by the famous Urdu poet Bashir Badr after his house was burnt in a communal riot in Meerut in 1987, reflects the sentiments of a large number of Indians who have suffered communal prejudice in one form or the other. Communal riots have become a part of Indian psyche; we live with it, albeit with a feeling of pain and remorse.

Decoding Intolerance: Riots
and the Emergence of
Terrorism in India;
Prateep K. Lahiri
Roli; Rs 395

The Allahabad High Court’s judgment on the 60-year-old Ayodhya issue on September 24, 2010 may trigger another round of communal frenzy if we do not bury the past. Why is it that six decades since Independence, the country still suffers from communal riots and we are not able to do much about it? Why has the problem of communal riots not been resolved with the passing of the years? People are killed, women are raped, children are burnt alive, houses are set ablaze, and the country witnesses all this with a sense of loss.

As such, it is important that this recurring and entrenched problem has attracted the attentions of P K Lahiri, who has had a distinguished career in the civil service as an Indian Administrative Service officer spanning 36 years. Lahiri, who served as secretary in the ministries of mines and finance, had earned a reputation for being upright, fearless and honest. Lahiri has several encounters with communal riots during his career, and his experiences and sharp sense of social responsibility in dealing with this problem have probably prompted him to explore the subject. He does so with both objectivity and a personal touch that lend greater credence to his arguments. Thus, Decoding Intolerance: Riots and the Emergence of Terrorism in India is a very different kind of book that provides a hands-on analysis of a social reality that India and Indians need to understand and face.

Full report here Business Standard

Image conscious

Pradip Chanda’s Requiem for a Brand begins with an underlying cynicism, which is quite understandable for someone who has moved beyond a corporate career and is now attempting to debunk all marketing theories that have been successful all over the world. It’s strange that someone who is a ‘brand expert’ should write a book on branding but with a title that is more obituary and less content.

A Requiem For A Brand;
Pradip Chanda;
Roli; Rs250; pp 138

The book meanders through well-known clichés and there is little that is insightful or analytical. He begins by defining the lack of engagement between consumers and brands in these hurried times and yet spends many chapters taking us through archaic case studies be it on Coca-Cola or Nike. Chanda is, more often than not, out of his depth in understanding the contours of what a brand is. Some of the analogies suggest an ignorance of the very basic tenets of marketing.

His logic suggests that because Coca-Cola today has spawned many variants, many of which bear other names, it’s an indicator of the declining value of Brand Coca-Cola. Strangely, we get to know very little of the author’s turn-around stories. Now, that would have made for compelling reading. There are some reasonable strands in the book but with very little follow-through. For instance, when Chanda talks about the price of community engagement, there are many stories that abound.

Full report here Hindustan Times

E-readers: Getting down to content

Home-grown manufacturers are luring consumers with an enviable content library to market the hardware

E-books are gaining momentum worldwide. But Indians are yet to join the wave — all things connected to this new world of authors and the Internet.

However, that has not come as a damper to home-grown manufacturers of e-readers. They are focusing on content to lure people to the world of digital reading. Sample this: Bangalore-based digital publisher EC Media gave access to an enviable content library when it launched its Wi-Fi (wireless connectivity) and 3G-enabled Wink e-reader models, competitively priced at Rs11,490 and Rs14,990.

“Selling hardware is not the only way of doing business for EC Media,” said Ravi Deecee, CEO of EC Media. Wink e-readers will provide users access to e-book content from publishers like Penguin, Roli, Oxford University Press, Harper Collins and Permanent Black.

Full report here Business Standard

McDonald set to roll out his Ambani sequel

It was the most controversial book about an Indian business family not to be read in the 1990s. And the author, Hamish McDonald, is hoping that he has better luck with the sequel, Mahabharata in Polyester: The making of the world’s richest brothers and their feud.

New Delhi-based publisher Roli Books Pvt. Ltd is to publish the book, a fact confirmed by the firm’s director Priya Kapoor.

McDonald, a former Far Eastern Economic Review journalist who was based in India, started work on what was to become The Polyester Prince, a book on the late Dhirubhai Ambani, with the sanction of the Ambani family.

The author and the family, however, differed on the approach and the book became an “unauthorized” biography of sorts. It was published internationally by Allen and Unwin Pty. Ltd (Australia) in September 1999, and HarperCollins secured the India rights for it.

The Ambanis didn’t think the book would do them any good and approached a court in India against it. The court sent a notice to HarperCollins, which admitted before it that the firm had no intention of publishing the book in India. Contrary to popular perception, there was (and is) no ban on the book.

Full report here Mint

Amarinder’s ‘The Last Sunset’ to release in London

‘The Last Sunset: The Rise & Fall of the Lahore Durbar’ penned by former Punjab CM Capt. Amarinder Singh is scheduled for global launch in London next month while its Punjabi avatar — Aakhri  Lamhean di Daastaan: Lahore Durbar di Chadhat te Pattan-early next month.

Sources said here Thursday that Roli Books- the publisher of English version- has fixed September 18-19 for its release globally. Publishers of the book, ‘Roli Books’ is in the process of fixing up with the author for launch function, sources said.

The Punjabi version of the book is ready and printed by Lahore Book Depot, Ludhaina and would likely to be release in Patiala, sources said.

Sources added that since Patiala was the home town of Amarinder Singh and he was very keen to release it in Punjabi University, the university established in the name of Punjabi language.  The date & venue to release has not yet finalized.

Full report here Punjab Newsline

Former Punjab CM writes book on Sikh history

Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's book on Sikh history 'The Last Sunset: The Rise and Fall of the Lahore Durbar' is scheduled for global launch in London next month.

Roli Books, the publisher of English version of the book, has fixed September 18-19 for its global release.

The Punjabi version -- 'Aakhri Lamhean di Daastaan: Lahore Durbar di Chadhat te Pattan' -- is likely to be released in Patiala shortly, sources said.

The book is based on the history of the Sikh empire and its legendary ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

Full report here Outlook

Darkness at dawn

As the nation revels in the spirit of Independence, Pramod Kapoor strikes a note of sobriety with his new book that exposes the dark side of Partition

A partition shot from Witness to Life and Freedom:
Margaret Bourke-White in India and Pakistan

‘Margaret, you can always be proud that you were invited into the world.' These were the words of Minnie Bourke, an Irish Orthodox Christian, to her daughter. The girl lived up to the invitation, carving out her own niche as a celebrated photojournalist who documented some of the most cataclysmic events history has seen. Margaret, though, was not your everyday, hard-nosed, dispassionate observer of events. She was moved by the plight of millions as India's tryst with freedom was marred by horrific riots, loss of life and limb, as millions moved across the Indo-Pak border.

Margaret clicked pictures of a woman breastfeeding her baby even as she crosses the border sitting on a donkey, of a torso being nibbled at by a stray dog next to the railway track, of an old man carrying a woman on his shoulders, of a body, nude waist downwards for obvious reasons, being lifted to a truck, and those of scores of swollen bodies, caught in the fury of the Beas floods. The immensely disturbing photographs would have remained just that, but for Pramod Kapoor, well known as the publisher of Roli Books, but now in serious danger of being identified as a collector of historical records and photographs. Kapoor though, is modest as ever. “Doing research and being a collector is what I really enjoy. I have been into vintage material study for close to a decade now. It all started with my book on maharajahs, something that has been very well received by the market. Then I did a book on New Delhi, and this one kind of naturally came through.” This “one” is called “Witness to Life and Freedom: Margaret Bourke-White in India and Pakistan”. A largely pictorial venture, the book calls upon the reader to display both wisdom and courage.

Full report here Hindu

History as it was made

For Life magazine’s photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White —  the first woman correspondent during World War II, the first American to get an official entry into the Soviet Union as well as one of the very few women photographers in pre-Partition 1940s India — going into the books seemed like a habit. She travelled across India and Pakistan between 1947 and 1948 and got some of her finest shots in places and at moments she least expected.

Witness To Life And Freedom:
Margaret Bourke-White In India And Pakistan
Ed by Pramod Kapoor
Roli; Rs 595; Pp 144 

Witness To Life And History is an expansive repository of her works at a time when emotions were running high and one man’s patriotism was another man’s bloodletting. Publisher Pramod Kapur has sifted through Bourke-White’s photographs and has brought us an excellent visual documentary. Along with a moving foreword by Gopalkrishna Gandhi, an opening essay by Vicki Goldberg, Bourke-White’s biographer, provides a textual harness to the book.

Apart from capturing the horrors of the Partition, Bourke-White captures the ‘ordinary’ emotions of people in extraordinary times. Her photos aren’t just about documenting the pains of a birth of a nation. They are also expressions of human emotions that are familiar some 63 years after they were first displayed.

Full report here

What's your recipe?

The steady flow of cookery books and food columns suggests that cooking is not just a fad with a generation which loves to experiment

Hollywood hottie Gwyneth Paltrow has recently authored a cookbook titled My Father's Daughter in memory of her late dad. The actor's father Bruce Paltrow died in 2002 from pneumonia after battling throat cancer and she launched the book because she feels close to him when she is making new dishes. Sydney Morning Herald recently quoted the Oscar-award winning actor as saying “Health food was never really on the agenda, it was about fun and deliciousness and togetherness. The most striking aspect about his cooking was how much joy he derived from feeding the people he loved. I mean, genuine, bursting happiness….”

Well, one doesn't always need such stimuli to write a cookbook. At least, that doesn't seem to be the case with the Indian cookbooks the monsoon season is showering us with.

Lasting success
Wisdom Tree, Roli Books, Rupa and Co. have been courting this genre for a long time. One of the publishers attributes the success of this genre to the exposure a well-heeled Indian is getting these days. Availability of varied cuisines at home and the world contributes to the cause.

Full report here Hindu

Puppy love

When Major (retd.) Habib Rehman buried his favourite canine Gori, near the ruins of Allauddin Khilji’s Siri Fort in the Capital, he resolved to build a memorial dedicated to his best friend. Now, five years down the line, Major Rehman, who retired as the director-in-charge of ITC’s hotels, travel and tourism and food businesses, has built the memorial and has also penned down a memoir on the good times shared with his pet Spitz.

The book titled, A Home for Gori (Roli Books, Rs 150) was launched on Thursday, July 30 evening at the The Maurya by former Chief Minister of Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh and Chairman of ITC Ltd., YC Deveshwar. “This book is not just about Gori, it’s also about Major Rehman. He is a very private person and the book reveals interesting facets of his personality,” said Deveshwar.

The story of Gori is unique in it’s own way. When Major Rehman’s wife got the puppy into their house, he showed absolute disinterest in her, because he preferred larger breeds and did not fancy a relatively smaller one. But with time he became extremely attached to Gori, and it is this bond that he has written about in the book. “The day I buried her, there was an anguish inside me, which lingers till date. The book talks about my love for Gori,” he said in a voice choked with emotions. Gori apart, Rehman has had a special relationship with canines, with as many as 14 high pedigree dogs in his Delhi residence.So there are mentions of other pets like Bullet and Baba besides Gori, as the readers are taken through interesting milestones in his career. Captain Amarinder Singh too spoke fondly of his love for dogs. “Dogs become a part of your family. Rehman’s book is brilliant. I finished it in one night — it was so gripping and intense,” he said.

Full report here Indian Express

One man & his dogs

It was hate at first sight when former director in charge of ITC’s hotels, travel and food businesses, Habib Rehman first laid eyes on a small white Spitz adopted by his wife Sukhi 15 years ago. The dog-loving Rehman had an aversion to small dogs, so he banished Gori to the servant’s room and ignored her every time he spotted her. But in the best Bollywood tradition, one stormy night brought about a change in his relationship with Gori, which has finally culminated in Rehman’s first book – a memoir about Gori – just released by Roli Books on July 29.

Puppy Love
A Home For Gori documents Rehman’s love for his pet. He explains, “Gori’s story will help me share my joy and sorrow of owning and loving a pet with other animal lovers.” Recalling that occasion when he caved in, Rehman says, “One night, I let my wife get Gori into our room. She jumped up on our bed and snuggled inside the comforter, next to my legs. That’s where she slept for the rest of her life.”

Indeed, as his relationship with Gori developed into mutual love and respect, Rehman says he realised that apart from her size, Gori was all heart and loyalty and affection – the same as any big dog or more. “I treated her with disdain,” recalls Rehman. “It wasn’t an equal setting. But this book is about our love, not our guilt.”

Full report here Hindustan Times

Gori tales

It is not so unusual to come across people who adore their pets no end, but not too many would pen a book on them.Delhiite Habib Rehman's book “A Home for Gori” is a poignant love story between a dog and his master.

Habib Rehman's just-published book A Home for Gori stands out in more ways than one. It is not so unusual to come across people who adore their pets no end, but not too many would pen a book on them. Stranger still, rarely would you chance upon someone who decides to move into a house simply because his pet is buried close by. Rehman, a well-known name in the Indian hospitality industry, is happily responsible for doing both.

At his Panchsheel Park bungalow — just a stone's throw from the grave of his pet dog Gori – Rehman is all geared up to muse over “A Home for Gori”, his wordy tribute to the canine friend, released by Roli to coincide with her fifth death anniversary. He begins from where the idea for the book began. “After retirement, I had the plan to settle down in a farmhouse somewhere. Instead, I decided to buy a house in Panchsheel Park as my pet Gori lies buried there. Pramod (Kapoor of Roli) by chance had asked me about my change of plans and I told him why. He was very moved by it and prodded me to write about Gori.”

Full report here Hindu

How to eat words

Should you happen to glance at the cookbook section at any bookstore, you’ll see an impressive buffet spread: beautifully shot books, some with near-edible pictures, liberal helpings of authentic ethnological and cultural insight, and the finest writing in the genre of ‘food pornography’. The spread is delectable enough, and varied enough, to have caught the attention of the Paris-based conferrers of the Gourmand award. Last year, the Emperor’s Table by Salma Husain (Roli) won the award for best culinary history. This year, in the Best Easy Recipes category, they chose Monish Gujral’s The Motimahal Cookbook: On the Butter Chicken Trail—a bestseller internationally, what with butter chicken’s relative, Chicken Tikka Masala (CTM), being anointed Britain’s national dish by some. At the other end of the calorie-counting spectrum, Sukham Ayu, Pratibha Jain and Jigyasa Giri’s primer on healthy cooking according to Ayurvedic principles won in the Health and Nutrition category, a niche that is fast catching on.

This is just the tip of the smorgasbord. Cookbooks today bear not even a passing likeness to the shoddily produced “handouts for housewives” that once dominated the genre. Today, they have sharper focus and near-infinite variety. Some target specific social groups, such as cosmopolitan young single people who entertain occasionally (Flash in the Pan, Westland) or IT professionals (Cook IT, Roli). Others provide a sort of food ethnology guide to, say, the Syrian Christian community (The Suriani Kitchen, Westland) or the Maharashtrian kitchen (The Essential Marathi Cookbook, Penguin). Some make a foreign cuisine authentically our own, for an internationally well-travelled class, such as Italian Khana (Random House India), and still others appeal to a rarefied restaurant-frequenting, Travel and Living-watching class. For those who like an international interpretation of Indian food, there’s the forthcoming Modern Spice by cook show host Monica Bhide, or, the Michelin-starred, newly minted ‘luxe fusion’ Indian food pioneered by Vivek Singh, chef of the London-based Cinnamon Club (both RHI).

Full report here Outlook

‘My Hindutva is much more radical than Tully’s'

I have been implicitly accused by Neha Tara Mehta of Mail Today, to have written the book Hindutva, Sex & Adventures (Roli Books, 2010), about which she says: “Rarely has a novel got as many tongues wagging in Delhi, especially after a few glasses of wine”.

The book narrates the story of a South Asia foreign correspondent, John Luyt, who has dodged bullets in Kashmir, reported on Ayodhya, covered Pakistan and interviewed six Indian prime ministers. However, John veers from a British secular outlook, to a ‘soft’ Hindutva stance, which makes him declare: “I do profoundly believe that India needs to be able to say with pride, yes, our civilisation has a Hindu base to it”.

There are also some very explicit ‘tantric’ sex scenes with his partner Imla, an Indian journalist (who is decidedly ‘secular’), which made the Times of India say: “The erotica is deliciously steamy and can vie for the Good Sex award, if there’s one. Highly recommended reading”!

Full report here New Indian Express

For a fresh look

For the publishing troubled, the focus on India seems to be an ongoing story. Frankfurt and Paris had the spotlight on India last year, and London follows is following it up with an ambitious line –up of India centric events at London this year.

The London Book Fair, on at the British capital’s Earls Court from April 20-22 this year, is focusing on India as an emerging market and literary hub. This trade fair will look at not only English writing from the south Asian nation but also other vernacular languages, Alistair Burtenshaw, group exhibition director of the event, says during a recent visit to India to promote the fair.

Burtenshaw admits that the global publishing industry is reeling at the moment. But he is confident of the rebound for the sector as well. “Publishing is a very forward looking industry,” he says. “Even in a challenging economic environment, they are going to look ahead. Out industry relies on great writing, and that is not going to stop.”

The London Book Fair, part of Reed Exhibitions, is one of the largest trade fairs in the world for the sector. While leading publishers, distributors, exporters, agents and writers are present, since 2004, each year, the fair has also selected a ‘market focus’ country. A major area where Burtenshaw hopes LBF will see activity is the sale of copyrights, especially for new authors. While Indian literature has already made deep inroads in the western markets, Burtenshaw feels the fair will help the industry look at India through fresh eyes.

The fair sees about 75-100 seminars over three days and usually draws about 25,000 attendees. Last year, there were about 1,800 exhibitors, from 36 countries and 413 companies. This year, publishers, booksellers and industry representatives from 67 countries will be present at the fair. The growth of the LBF in recent years has also meant the fair has a more international flavour, with about half the exhibitors coming from overseas.

About 45 writers, including major names like Vikram Seth, Amit Chaudhuri, Anita Nair, Javed Akhtar, Amartya Sen and Ramchandra Guha are among the writers scheduled to attend the fair. Already 78 Indian exhibitors have signed up, far exceeding expectations, says Burtenshaw. About 40 cultural events, including seminars and workshops, are planned. “It will help Indian publishers to sell rights of works by Indian authors to other markets,” he says.

The fair aims to focus on different aspects of Indian publishing. With India already the world’s third-largest producer of English language titles, and a still growing economy compared to negative growth rates in most of the OECD economies, the country offers considerable marketing opportunities.

“This will see writing not only from Indians writing in English, but also from the other languages spoken in the country,” says Burtenshaw. The British Council is putting together the programmes, and Sujata Sen, Director, East India, British Council, points out, there are 32 languages in India with over a million speakers, and there is great scope for translation. She points to Sahitya Akademi’s programme, and hopes more translation rights will be discussed.
And the events will not be limited to LBF alone but will also form part of the Edinburgh, hay, Norwich and Newcastle literature festivals. As part of the build up, the Kolkata Book Fair this had its spotlight on Scottish writers, and BCL organized about 50 events during the festival, points out Sen. “It is all about long term sustainability and engagement, adds Burtenshaw. “The rationale is to create greater business opportunities.

With a going rate of £254 per square metre to rent place at the fair, participation does not come chap. But Capexil is giving financial assistance to participants. LBF has also been helping out potential Indian exhibitors through workshops and seminars, conducting workshops for agents on how they can make a book successful, on participation guidelines, how to set up appointments, which titles to promote, how to present stands, preparing the right publicity material etc. While many of the subsidiaries of international publishing houses have been participating in their global stands, many have also taken stands in the India pavilion, Among the participants from India at the fair are Roli, Rupa, Macmillan India, Mapin, Niyogi, OUP India, Penguin India, Sterling, UBSPD, Zubaan, Wisdom Tree, Ratna Sagar, Research Press, Pearson Education, Palgrave Macmillan, McGraw Hill, IBH, Cambridge University Press India besides a host of printers.

Whether the fair is able to achieve its goals remains to be seen, but what already seems guaranteed is the greater visibility of the India in one of world’s global financial capitals desperately in need of some succour.

Publishers' meet in Delhi

A day-long round table by organised by the German Book Office (GBO) in Delhi saw a number of participants - including most of India's leading publishers and printers, engaged in rather spirited discussion over the future of publishing in India.
The usual divide between the multinational subsidiaries and independent publishers was a part of the story. The meet looked at whether publishing was local or global - and there was this realisation that while publishing had to be essentially local, the main tasks for publishers was to find the next big author who could transcend boundaries and languages.

Among the participants were Juergen Boos, President, Frankfurt Book Fair, who has been visiting India fairly frequently in recent times. Another interesting participant was an old India hand, Richard Charkin, executive director, Bloomsbury, in the past with Macmillan in India.

Among the Indian publishers present were Mike Bryan (Penguin), SK Ghai (Sterling), VK Karthika (Harper), Urvashi Butalia (Zubaan), Thomas Abraham (Hachette), Renuka Chatterjee from Westland, Pramod kapoor (Roli), PM Sukumar (Harper).