The agony of a Sahitya Akademi Award winner

By Our Staff Correspondent

RAIPUR, JULY 15. While converting unsold books into pulp might be a profitable idea for a publisher, it can only cause anguish to a writer who dedicates his time and energy to create a piece of fiction.

This is exactly how Sahitya Akademi Award-winner, Mr. Vinod Kumar Shukla, felt when the publishers of his book ``The Servant's Shirt'' wrote to him saying that the unsold copies of his book would be converted into pulp if he did not buy them.

``Penguin India could have donated these unsold copies to different libraries or literary institutions if I am not in a position to buy these copies,'' Mr. Shukla told ``The Hindu'' here. ``It is not the question of my book but of all writers who cannot buy their books from the publishers. The Government or the literary institutions should have a say in this,'' he adds.

Mr. Shukla feels it is the open market economy where moral values have given way to monetary consideration. Profit or loss is the only value the publishers understand. The controversy over his book ``Naukar ki Kameez`` (The Servant's Shirt) began in 1999 when an acquaintance, Mr. Sati Khanna of Duke University decided to translate it into English from its original Hindi script. Film director, Mani Kaul, made a film by the same name based on the book.

It was Mr. Khanna who spoke to the publishers who agreed to publish the English version of the novel which is about a middle- class young man. ``However, the book was published even before the agreement could be signed. I had made some amendments in the agreement and insisted that the book should not be sold outside India.'' Admitting that the publishing of the book before the formalities were over could have been due to lack of communication, Mr. Shukla said it was by chance that he learnt from a website in March 2000 that his book was being sold for 23 dollars outside India.

The writer got in touch with the publishers but failed to get a satisfactory answer from them. ``They had not signed the agreement from their side, and not even given me the update on the number of copies sold or even royalty for that matter. They told me that they were not selling the books.''

After months of communications, the publishers withdrew the book from the foreign market and informed Mr. Shukla that of the 2,000 books published by them, 600 had remained unsold. ``I was told to buy these books by paying Rs. 30 per book though the market price in India was Rs. 250. When I informed them that I wanted to buy only 15 copies, I was told that the remaining would be destroyed and converted into pulp though I was sent the royalty for the books sold and the copy of the contract signed by them,'' he adds.

The information about the proposed destruction was given to him a month back. He does not know what has been the fate of the copies and neither does he want to. Deeply hurt by this process being followed by the publishers, Mr. Shukla says he realises how difficult it must be for fledgling writers to get their works published. ``This is sheer exploitation. One never knows whether the figures of the books sold are correct or not. Of course, it must be easier for the established writers.''

Besides ``Naukar ki Kameez'', Mr. Shukla has to his credit ``Deewar Mein Ek Khidki Rehti Hai'' and ``Khelengein to Dekhengein''. ``Mahavidyalaya'' is a compilation of short stories by him and then there are numerous poems penned by him. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi award last year.

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