|
Literary Review
Moving on...
|
Twenty years ago, Kali for Women demonstrated that publishing on important issues could be economically viable too. Today, the founders have decided to separate. SUCHITRA BEHAL reports.
|
INDIA'S best-known publishing team, Urvashi Butalia and Ritu Menon of Kali for Women, have decided to go their separate ways and the buzz in publishing circles is that this is a culmination of growing differences between the two partners. But both, who have spent 20 years building Kali, are playing down the split. According to Butalia, who is starting out a new venture called Zubaan, with another partner, Anita Roy, the time has come to move on.
"The world of feminism and the world of women is changing so rapidly that we need to keep track of that and in some way adapt and be open. Which is not to say that there is no room for the old kind of feminist publishing that we have been doing in the past, but there is also a need to expand," said Butalia while explaining that her new venture would take into account this change.
Butalia emphasised the need to look at non-stereotype roles and said that she was even willing to do some "fun" books on women. "I think we can learn to laugh at ourselves, laugh at various situations. Those are some of the areas which I hope to be able to develop finally. Basically it would mean publishing a core of books for and by women, both academic and fiction. Like Kali, but it will also be expanding into some more areas, all to do with the subject of women," said Butalia. In reply to a query, she said the feminist movement in India did not ever have a single role model. "Thirty years ago you would have talked only of women who had participated in the nationalist movement, a certain class of political women who were in the limelight, a Sarojini Naidu or a Vijaylakshmi Pandit. But today inspiration can come from a Bhavri Devi, a Fatima Be. There is a diversity, a multiplicity of models and I think one has to recognise that."
While her partner Ritu Menon prefers to remain more tight-lipped about her plans, she too is planning to launch into an area similar to what she had been doing with Kali. Menon, who is currently involved with the India Chapter of a women's writing network, Women's World, said that that she felt that time had come in Kali's life when there had to be some reorganisation. This was echoed by Butalia, who said: "We've come to a point where in India women's books are mainstream. They are being published by every big publisher. Today women writers or people writing on women have many options. They needn't all come to Kali, they can go to 10 other publishers... personally I have been thinking for a long time that we are inching closer to a time when we should be moving on because, as you say, I believe there comes the time in the life of any organisation when it outgrows its founders — when those ideas with which you began either need to change drastically or you need to say `ok somebody else must deal with it.' And for me I've been thinking either that or adapting to change, looking at the list of women and changing to adapt to that."
Menon said that at some point any organisation would need to "do some rethinking". "I personally don't see it as a discontinuation but I see it as a very positive growth for both of us. I don't think of it as coming to any kind of end. That I think would be completely erroneous," she said
According to Kali watchers, the drift had set in some time ago and Butalia receiving an award from the French government plus the growing popularity of her book on Partition, brought things to a head. And though the split is not exactly a surprise, there is a sense of sadness that such a successful enterprise has ended up on a bitter note.
Started as India's first independent and professionally managed feminist publishing house, Kali very quickly and quietly made a name for itself nationally and internationally. Currently, despite the crisis, over 20 titles are in the pipeline.
Even as both prepare to move into different tracks, it is evident that their involvement with the feminist movement and publishing are their foremost passions. Recounting their experiences when they started Kali, Menon said that they were the first and that was a gamble. "But it was a calculated risk we took. What I think people have realised is that it is not only an important area but also economically viable. Now every important publisher has a gender list. Twenty years ago people told us that was a flash in the pan, we were narrowing our interests and needed to diversify. And we said it's half the world, so it's hardly narrow focus. But the market had to be developed. That development work was what we did and made it viable."
While both Butalia and Menon see their new individual ventures as an extension of their commitment to feminist writing, both are also in agreement that there is a huge scope for the growth of smaller publishing houses. Both felt that smaller publishers were more willing to take risks and experiment with newer writing. Menon said that there was still a lot of work to be done for women's writing and the area was far from exhausted. "Some people feel it's reached a plateau. I don't agree. There are so many areas which we haven't even begun to publish." She hopes to be able to work on these and newer areas.
Butalia plans to use the recent prize money of $25,000 to fund Zubaan. "It came at the right time and I thought there has to be a God somewhere." Butalia said her new venture would take at least a couple of months before getting off the ground. The first few titles would be similar to what Kali did and only after that would she look at radically different books. Admitting that there were always apprehensions about starting any new venture, Butalia said that there was also a sense of excitement. A lot of people would be watching Zubaan's progress rather closely.
For Menon too, the commitment is much the same. She sees feminist publishing as a "vocation. I don't think were in it for the money. The work still isn't over," said she.
However, what remains to be seen is how much of that work will get translated into positive action once the two partners begin afresh.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Literary Review
|
