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Going, going, gone
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The eagerly awaited fifth Harry Potter has been a big hit in India, going by the reactions from New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai.
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ABOUT 15 days before D-Day (June 21), Harry Potter fans in Chennai were dealing with wild rumours concerning Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The opening sentences of the book were out (Kavya, 11); Dumbledore dies (Tara, 15), the book's first three chapters can be downloaded from an Internet site (Mithila, 15) ...
Bookstores in three cities — Chennai, Mumbai and New Delhi — agreed that they had never seen such a mad rush for one book. While kids in Chennai cannily placed advance orders, the capital saw bookshops being inundated with queries on where one could get a copy of the book. In Mumbai, Strand Book Stall had ordered 2,500 copies and, unable to cope with the demand, doubled their order. Teksons, in New Delhi, placed an order of 1000 copies and wound up selling 200 on the first day. The bookshops in Chennai (Landmark in Nungambakkam and Spencer Plaza, Odyssey, Fountainhead, Goodbooks and Crossword) had advance booking of almost 2000 by June 17. Penguin India's Vice President (sales and marketing) P. Sukumar reveals that they have received orders for 22,000 books and already have a re-order of 10,000. Penguin India had released 60,000 copies on June 21 and over the weekend, 50,000 copies had been sold. David Davidar, CEO and Publisher of Penguin India said, "We need books like Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to keep the magic of books alive and well in our society.
Says Bipin Shah of India Book Distributors, Mumbai: "We have already ordered 10,000 copies." While Gautam Padmanabhan of EastWest Books, Chennai says: "I've never seen such hype or security for one book. There's no doubt that Harry Potter is a best seller. Before, the high point of children's book was Goosebumps. This is definitely an improvement." Mumbai schoolteacher Nandini John agrees that the books have improved the children's reading habit. "One of my students even wrote his own Harry Potter story during the holidays," she laughs.
Nasir Ahmed of Landmark (Nungambakkam) feels that children come into bookstores drawn by the Potter magic and see other books that look interesting. Among these are the Lemony Snicket series, Phillip Pullman, Eva Ibbotson and Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl. C. Suresh Kumar of Fountainhead adds self-help books and books like Who Moved My Cheese? and other self-help books to the list. Veena of the Danai Bookshop, Mumbai, agrees with this but points out these books took more time to reach big numbers.
Most bookstores had major dos to launch the book. Discounts were floating around madly. Strand in Mumbai was selling the book at Rs. 555 instead of the cover price of Rs. 795. Oxford, apart from a special programme for kids with book readings, games and quizzes, had a 10 per cent discount for any other Harry Potter book bought along with the new book. Chennai bookstores were offering discounts from 10-15 per cent. Odyssey had organised a reading from the book plus a quiz. Landmark's big show will take place on June 29 — a film show, fancy dress and quiz based on the series. Goodbooks had an adventure show on June 21. This was such a big hit that the organisers had to change the script practically at the last minute. The original plan was to have parents join in, put them in Slytherin and bring the group down consistently. But when 100-odd kids thronged the place, parents were thrown out; kids were put in Slytherin and given an impromptu lesson on working together. Not that the end result was so preachy.
Given the amount of interest in the fifth book, it is but natural that the first four would come in for the backwash. Strand and other bookshops in Mumbai have so much demand for the first four that IBD's Shah says they have ordered 1000 copies each of the earlier titles. In Chennai too, copies of the first four were in great demand, according to Suresh Kumar and Ahmed.
And what are the kids' reactions to Harry Potter? Rekha Jain in Delhi went with her father as he left for work in the morning as she was not sure if there would be any left by the time he came back. "Nobody lends Harry Potter," is her complaint. A local library in Chennai bought 100 copies of the book and by Sunday evening was down to the last two copies — for which about five people were wrangling. "My brother won't let me inside the house if I go back without it," yelled one teenager. At Mumbai's Oxford, a nine-year-old is trying to convince his mum to buy ... The Order of the Phoenix. "So what if I haven't finished the fourth book. I'll still be able to understand this one."
And what did kids think of the first four? Eleven-year-old Siddharth liked The Goblet of Fire the best and felt that the Chamber of Secrets was a washout. "It was so silly," he sniffs disdainfully. And what if this one doesn't match up to their expectations? "We'll go for the next one 'cos we're curious to know what happens next," they chorus.
Inputs from ZIYA US SALAM (New Delhi), MALATHY MAHADEVAN (Mumbai) and R. KRITHIKA (Chennai)
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