Is Banning Books Justified?

Thank you Blogadda for picking this post for the Tangy Tuesday posts!

The Mumbai University recently got removed Rohinton Mistry’s book, "Such A Long Journey", from the syllabus upon facing pressure from the young cub, Aditya Thackeray of the Shiv Sena, who, sort of, made his debut with this roaring success in the political landscape in the city of Mumbai. Read about it here.

While all authors, bloggers, free-spirited readers of the modern world are up in arms against the banning of books and censorship in any form, I have some "hatke" views on this subject.

Before we get to the subject of banning books, let us examine why an author undertakes to write a book in the first place. An author would’ve been just another creature walking this planet had he no urge to tell all that is in his mind, waiting to be told, wanting to be said and itching to be devoured by hungry minds. It could be an amazing story of a person or the tale of a spirited struggle of the people of a certain era, that one encounters in life.

An author of a book may not have taken all the efforts to write, re-write, edit the matter to be narrated, if there hadn’t been such lovely creatures called ‘readers’. Lastly, the author wouldn’t have been able to get his created work to the voracious devourers of the printed word without the existence of the publishers, who don’t necessarily read the book, but certainly have all that it takes to judge whether people would shell out money to buy the book. So it is that from being just an idea in someone’s mind to the writing of a book that gets published and is available for sale at a swanky book store in the city is itself, such a long journey!

Hey, but the journey is not yet over, my dear friend! The book’s got to be launched, sold, reviewed by critics, marketed, publicised, talked about, debated, loved or hated - and does all this really mean your book sales will soar? Not really until finally, if you’re lucky enough, the book is BANNED! Yes, you read that right – banned! Or better still, burnt in public glare! How many authors can boast of writing books that have been banned? All they can really hope for is to be chosen to be awarded the coveted Booker Prize. Being banned or burnt is the ultimate success of a book!

If you don’t believe me, watch the sales figures of any book before and after a ban. The counter behaves like it’s been administered a generous dose of steroids. I just happened to ask for a copy of the latest Booker Prize winner, “The Finkler Question”, but was disappointed to find that they hadn’t even heard about it! Just a small mention somewhere in the innards of a newspaper doesn’t attract as much attention as a political rally where a book is burnt or torn with a host of TV Channels vying to get the best shot for their “breaking news” edition, does it?

You’ve certainly got it right, Dr Rajan Welukar – giving in to the demands of the goons was surely the best way you could have dealt with the situation you were facing. On one hand the agitated and offended cub has his say, and on the other the author finds more readers and laughs all the way on such a long journey to his bank! Don’t you worry about all these writers - who think they are great thinkers too – they will vent their anger, rant about losing their freedom of speech, appear on television debates, and tell the world about how the book bans are depriving the reader of a marvellous opportunity to enrich the mind. But let me tell you a secret – in their hearts they all pray and hope that some day their great works are banned and they would be the most sought after celebrities on every national TV channel and their book is flashed across as they hide their immense joy and feign to be the victim of some political vendetta. Why dont they respect your freedom - the freedom to ban books - or, more precisely, remove them from the syllabus, that is?

Dr. Welukar, you’ve done a good job – but, I would urge you to go that extra mile and change the way educational institutes function. Stop this age old practice of prescribing books for the syllabus. Students don’t like to read any book that is forced upon them, you see. Have you not seen how these youngsters doze off as soon as a prescribed text-book is opened? Don’t we see how they take immediately to books that are ‘forbidden’ instead? Let the Mumbai University bring about the much-needed change – go ahead and publish a list of banned and forbidden books instead! Make sure to include all those books that urge you to think, to change the wicked ways of this world, to make things happen in your lifetime. They challenge the way we are, they way we think and work – they ask us to change our ways! Well, some of us are sure to be offended by something or the other – they ought to be banned – each one of them. Go that extra mile, Dr. Welukar! There’s nothing better one can do to make people shut off the idiot box and settle down to read a book!

A couple of announcements

First Announcement – Finding Hidden Gems Geniuses in our society

Naushir Mistry, an ace cinematographer and cameraman, who has recently begun blogging, wishes to feature young school kids with inventive ideas that go beyond academics and curricula of the present education system.

Inspired by the 3 Idiots movie, wherein students with extraordinary abilities, who don’t exactly excel at academics, but may display unusual skills at problem solving or technical superiorities, he is on the lookout for such talented students, as announced in his appeal posted in his blog-post titled “Don’t Be an Idiot”.

Link of his post here.

Being new in the blogosphere, Naushir, my classmate from KG to SSC XI wishes that bloggers who find this idea appealing may post a link of his appeal in their blogs for wider publicity. Knowing Naushir’s prowess behind the camera and all things that work like machines, I am sure, he would be able to showcase the students’ abilities substantially. I request blogger-friends to suggest some likely candidates if they have come across anyone who may be worthy of the encouragement and coverage.

Second Announcement - My book available in Delhi World Book Fair

Signed copies of my book "The ArTicKles Collection" is available for discount sale at the Delhi World Book Fair!

The Location: The Pothi.com Stand at No. S2/12, Hall 1-2, Delhi World Book Fair, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi
The duration: January 30, 2010 to February 7, 2010

Those in Mumbai may write in a email to g_mavinkurve AT hotmail DOT com for the same offer. For those who aren’t either in Delhi or Mumbai, but still want to buy my book, it is available on the net and can be ordered by clicking on the following link below:

Click here for ordering on the Pothi website

In case any of you have already read my book, I would request you to kindly write a review of the same on the Pothi website. In case of difficulty to do so, one may write a review and send the text to me on email for uploading it on the Pothi website. That will help others to decide about their purchase.

Thanking one and all for your support as always!

BBF is on

The Bangalore Book Festival is on since November 6th and will be open until 15th Nov 09. My self-published book, enabled and powered by Pothi.com has been put up in their Stall No. 288 there as I have already announced in my previous post.

Pothi.com has begun posting all the happenings and pics in their blog “Booknomics” here.

Jean, blogger and author of “Tales from the Garden City” has posted some pictures and written about her visit to the Pothi stall in her blog, which can be read here.

Jean also left a comment on my blog that she has bought a copy of my book! Thanks, Jean! Do write a review on the Pothi.com website and/or your blog, once you’ve finished reading it.

All a writer wants, once he completes writing his book, is that his book reaches as many readers as possible. Though some of us have opted for self-publishing our books at Pothi, this does not prevent us from trying to approach established publishers for buying the rights of the book. I forwarded copies of my books to 4-5 publishers till date and they were quick enough to revert with a standard reply, “At the moment, our hands are full, you may try some other publisher”.

Just wondering why Goddess Saraswati did not bless our publishers with a dozen hands instead of just 2 – in which case, wouldn’t they have some hands free for handling my book? Anyway, just take it that this message is just an accepted publishing industry norm for a “rejection slip” to the author. Having collected several such rejection slips from newspapers and magazines, these just add to the tally, I thought.

However, according to this piece, even some best-sellers in the market today have been rejected several times before publishers see the potential in them, citing 14 best-sellers which were rejected more than 15 times (some more than 30 times) before acceptance!

Who would guess that “Gone with the wind” by Margaret Mitchell would have been rejected 38 times, “Carrie” by Stephen King was rejected 30 times, “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” by Richard Bach was rejected 18 times, “Chicken Soup for the Soul” by Jack Canfield was rejected 140 times, “The Peter Principle” by Laurence Peter was rejected 16 times? So you now know how wrong publishers were to reject the book submissions! Chicken Soup for the Soul ended up selling over 80 million copies and was translated in 37 languages once published.

I wonder how so many publishers didn’t find such remarkable books worth the print paper? So authors should not get disappointed by rejections by established publishing houses who can print many copies of our book and place them in the bookstores all around the world, and who knows they may be the best-sellers in the days to come!

So, guys, we have a new platform of self-publishing to get started, but we need to keep trying our luck with established publishers and distributors and of course keep improving on the work in terms of presentation and details – that’s what successful authors have been doing all along.

My Book at the Bangalore Book Festival 2009!

As you all know, I have been doing the write stuff for some years now. Writing involves imagination and as we work upon our skills, fantasies come to us quite naturally. So it happened that I got this idea about self-publishing my first “ArTicKles Collection” early this year. Now writing nonsense is one thing and publishing it in a book, quite another. But thanks to well-wishers and some helpful souls who tend to our fantasies and work to see our creations see the light of day, like Pothi.com, my first book was published in February 2009 and has been available for purchase on the net here.

Soon, I learnt that publishing a book is one thing and selling it, quite another! The book is available on the net, but nobody seems to be buying it! So what’s wrong with my book? I began to wonder.

“Nothing, its just that it doesn’t get the publicity and since most readers still pick up books in the book-store and online purchases hasn’t yet caught up, your book lacks the visibility” said a good friend of mine.

That reminded me about what a very popular author said in his television interview. He narrated an incident about how a young aspiring author once asked him whether he considered himself the best author in the world today, to which he quickly replied “Certainly not the best author, but probably the best–selling author or close to being it”.

That sorted out the entire muddle in my head! For someone who cannot sell a refrigerator to a guy staying in a desert (not an eskimo, take note), no wonder the book doesn’t sell. Moreover, one did not even heed the advice of well-intentioned friends who suggested that I throw in some romantic love stories and garnish it with juicy bits of holding hands while naturally progressing into promiscuity, that would be certain to irk the big-wigs in the several “Senas” and several self-appointed moral brigades of the region. I could’ve just handed over a couple of free samples to their staunch supporters in my region and hoped and prayed for my book to be banned or better still, burnt in public – after which it would become an instant international best-selling success!

Finally, I did none of it!

So I am now happy that Pothi.com, the self-publishing platform has come up with an idea (not as exciting as my friends’ suggestions, though, I must admit) to help sell our books apart from the online bookstore! Pothi has decided to set up a stall in the Bangalore Book Festival to be held in Bangalore from Nov 6th to Nov 15th and signed copies of my first book will be available at a discounted price of Rs. 125/- (Listed price Rs. 140)during the event.

The details of how to get to the Book Stall of Pothi is as follows:

Stall No. 288, Bangalore Book Festival,
Gayatri Vihar, Palace Grounds,
Bangalore
(Entrance from Chowdiah/ Bellary Road side)


So now that you know what my book isn’t about, what are you waiting for? Go grab a signed copy of my book!

PS: Oops, I almost forgot – the book contains some selected “ArTicKles” – humorous, informative, entertaining collection of old published and unpublished pieces,which I promise shall be a great read especially for those who have limited access to the net! It is a great gifting idea for elderly people who read books and newspapers and enjoy some good humor in life!

For those in Aamchi Mumbai or Fascinating Goa, some copies are available for the same discounted price of Rs. 125/- plus courier charges as applicable. If anyone is interested in purchasing my book, kindly write in to my email id which is g_mavinkurve AT hotmail DOT com to be the proud owner of a work of outstanding human fantasy or...er...stupidity!

For those who think they are well-connected (to the internet, i mean), just head to my best posts in my blog here. I have actually improved upon my posts in the book! So do buy my book, guys!

Doing the Write Stuff!

It is not unusual to find oneself suddenly being engulfed in lots of activities!

Just when I decided to begin a separate blog dealing with the intricate, paradoxical, debatable subject of Foreign Trade Policy developments and their effect on trade and industry, I had an old collegemate call on me telling me about the troubles he had to go through in life. The events he described had so many twists and turns that it could put any bollywood blockbuster to shame.

"Write a book on my life events - it will be a hit!" he suggested, "I know you can do it". So I began with a short summary and send it off to him.

Another acquaintance who came out as an enterprising soul, who learnt about my love for writing soon revealed to me some interesting aspects of his life and I said "Wow! I never knew you...." Soon I would want to write about his noble deeds.
"I want the write-up to touch the readers hearts and make them feel like contributing to society, I know you can do that" he says. I hope to do justice, i think as i leave him with promises.

Back at my desk, I find an invitation to write for a new blog, a novel concept in which one has got to write his/her thoughts on a chosen India-related subject in just 140 words! Twitter - 140 characters. India-tweets - 140 words!

What do i do write the twisting-turning story with blockbuster potential?
Write about the kind-hearted deeds of the acquantance? Work on my professional trade-shade stuff?

The next thing that happens i find an email from blogger-friend Sakhi who has published her first book of short stories! Read about it here .

Great work! Congratulations! I wish her and begin wondering whether publishing my book is the end of a journey or the beginning of one? After publishing my First Artickles Book", I have been able to sell 3 copies of my book all in all - one via Pothi.com and 2 personally!

My good friend Anil, who knows everything, tells me, "If you havent praised Raavan or Hitler or Jinnah...nor have you hurt the feelings of this sect or the other...your book has nothing in it that makes it worthy of banning it or better still burning it...how do you expect to...again you're not a Jaswant or an Advani in fact you're not even a Praveen Mahajan!!??..."

I am convinced "I understand..I understand...but I still do hope someone buys it for some laughs it offers and for gifting it to someone who has sparce access to the internet...
Do buy my First Artickles Book!"

That's also when work beckons! Yells out to me and tells me there is some time-bound projects to attend to and all my thoughts vanish. Suddenly I begin to believe i cant do any of the stuff, i wanted to - at least not now - maybe sometime later.

So i wait for this weekend but all i can manage to do is to post my first 140-word India-tweet post! Check it out here.

Proud to be part of India-tweets! Thanks,Vinod Sharma!

My first ArTicKles Book!

The announcement
To begin with, I would like to make an announcement :-
“Hey, my first book, a compilation of my “ArTicKles”, is available on the net!”

How did I get this outrageous idea?
Some of my friends seem to be weirder than me! They believed, sooner or later, I could have a compilation of my ArTicKles published as a book! “It could be a nice book to read on a flight, if you could publish a compilation”, said one, when I handed him some printouts of my blog posts on a business trip on a flight back from a meeting with customers. I could tickle people even when the net was inaccessible!

Then there was my aged uncle, who asked his son (my cousin) to get printouts home for him, as reading from the PC monitor was not a workable option for his aging self. Maybe some others, who did not have access to the internet but did read newspapers, magazines and books could be tickled by my compilation of books!

Well, but why did I publish a collection of my ArTicKles on the net?
Simple! For one, I thought people would like to buy it!
How stupid can one get?

Well, I am only looking to reach out to newer recipients of my ’Tickles through this book.

But who would publish my book?
To find out how some others, who were writing for MSN Contribute, an amateur writers forum, had managed to successfully publish their own work in books, I got in touch with them by email. From their response, it was evident that publishers had their own yardstick to measure up your work – Would the subject appeal to readers? Would they buy this book? Would they make money? Does their marketing department think this book will sell?

It was evident from their response that it would be quite an ordeal. I would have to go from pillar to post to find a publisher for my book - only to collect rejection slips or perhaps embarrassing silence as a reply.

About Self-Publishing
When I met the founder of Wordsmith.org, Anu Garg, who has already published some books already, I had an opportunity to get deeper insights into aspects of publishing – about latest trends, about newer possibilities opening up!

For one, Anu explained the concept of self-publishing. He recommended me to visit Lulu.com, which is a popular website, which has popularized this concept lately. So I found the publisher of my book – myself! The idea appealed to me immensely, however I wondered whether an Indian firm could offer me this concept right here in India? I am so very thankful to Anu Garg for the insights he shared with me!

A quick google search “self publishing website India” threw up just the site I was looking out for:
Pothi.com!

About Print on demand and Pothi.com
If there is anything that appealed to me about Pothi.com, it was the simple way in which all my doubts were answered so lucidly through their features and if there still was a nagging doubt left, their FAQ, cost calculator, ISBN, services for writers... everything a writer needing to publish a book would need to know.

One other doubt that had been bothering me was the minimum order size. Surely, I would have to order some minimum quantity of books, wouldn’t I? Would it be 300…or 100? Would they agree for an order size of 12? That is when I was pleased to learn that with Print on Demand technology, one can even buy ONE BOOK at a time! No unnecessarily printed copies lying around. Though offset printing does cost lower per copy, the cost of unsold copies could very well prove to be costlier, unless of course you are a best seller author right away.

About my First ArTicKles book
Select artickles have been chosen from my blog posts and some further editing and improvements have been made, wherever possible, in this book. This book is for light reading for those of your family members, friends, senior citizens – just about anyone, who may have limited or have no access to internet and my blog, but enjoy reading all the same. This book will prove to be a good gift for them, with whom you have not been able to share my blog posts from time to time.
[If they have been escaping my tickles – here they come!]

If the idea appeals to you,
do buy it at Pothi.com here!

About this long post
Finally, why did I share all this with you in so much detail? Wasn’t a short post announcing my book enough? Is this a case of “over-share” with my readers? Well, I have dwelt it in greater details, because, each one of you may have your own poems, short stories, articles, analytical write-ups, novellas to share with a larger audience, to reach out to a wider circle of readers. Maybe this post could show you the way to get there!
I can see several talented writers around who would soon publish their own work, in some way or the other and perhaps become best-selling authors, even before I take my next small step!

Next step? Would you write another?
Of course! Why else would I call it the First ArTicKles Book here in this post?