‘The prize changed things overnight’

On how things have changed for the 75year-old publishing house since the English translation of Ret Samadhi won the International Booker Prize

1Rajkamal Prakashan was founded in 1947, just a few months before India gained independence from the British. How do you look back at its journey? We celebrate February 28, 1947, as our Foundation Day. Our founders, Om Prakashji and Devrajji, were involved in the Indian freedom struggle. They were sympathetic towards freedom fighters who led non-violent protests and also to revolutionaries who made bombs.

The first book that Rajkamal Prakashan published was in Hindi and English. The Hindi title was Netaji aur Azad Hind Fauj, and it was Netaji and INA in English. Major General Shahnawaz Khan wrote the book, and Jawaharlal Nehru wrote its preface. Our second book was with Louis Fischer. It was Gandhi aur Stalin in Hindi, and Gandhi and Stalin in English. I joined Rajkamal Prakashan in 1994, and feel proud to have built on the legacy of a publishing house that has worked with leading writers such as Krishna Sobti, Kaifi Azmi, Javed Akhtar, Girish Karnad, VP Singh, Chandra Shekhar, Mahasweta Devi and many more. We have also published international classics in Hindi, and our books have been translated from Hindi into English, Punjabi, Bengali, German, Russian and French.

2Geetanjali Shree’s Ret Samadhi, which you published in 2018, went on to win the International Booker Prize 2022 after Daisy Rockwell translated it into English. Besides the recognition, how did Rajkamal Prakashan benefit?

The prize changed things overnight. There was a huge increase in demand for copies of Ret Samadhi. Since my son Alind and I were in London, my elder son Amod, who is also CEO of the company, had to get 35,000 copies printed and distributed within a week. That was an enormous challenge but we managed to deliver and not let anyone down. The jubilation was short-lived because we were hit by piracy. We found that e-commerce platforms were being used to sell pirated editions. Our sales were badly affected. We hope that people who want to support Geetanjali Shree’s work realise that pirated copies don’t lead to author royalties.

3

Have people reached out to translate

Ret Samadhi?

Ret Samadhi was first translated into French by Annie Montaut, before Daisy Rockwell translated it into English. After the prize, there has been a huge demand for further translations. We are in talks for translations into Marathi, Malayalam, Punjabi, Kannada, German and Spanish.

This is wonderful because the book is epic in its scope. It also engages with history, ageing, and the rights of transgender people. It also has delicious descriptions of food. I am sure everyone can find something in it to relate to.

This book is an invitation to translators to explore the rich world of Bihari literature. On the Books & Authors podcast on www.htsmartcast.com