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Book ends Ravikumar: ‘We know that we have very good writers on the one hand and a very hungry, if discerning, readership on the other’

Behind Abhinava’s success is the sweat, toil and struggle of Ravikumar and his wife, Chandrika who started publishing in 1994. “The initial years were understandablydifficult, financially and otherwise. We were able to bring out only three to four books annually. Slowly, our efforts were recognised and a loyal readership was built. We published our 50th book (Belegere Krishnashastri’s memoir, “Mareyalaadeete?”) in 2004. Things have become really fast-paced since then. In 2006, we brought out 22 titles. We are thrilled that Abhinava’s 100th book is ready for release.”

All the projects of Abhinava are sustained by personal funding of Ravikumar who still works in a factory, and devotes the remaining hours to publishing activities. Chandrika, who has a Ph.D in Kannada literature, is also fully involved in Abhinava which has built an impressive list of publications including U R Ananthamurthy’s “Maatu Sota Bharatha” and “Valmikiya Nevadalli”, H.Y. Sharada Prasad’s anthology of selected writings, Sriranga’s critical volume on Kalidasa, Prabhushankara’s “Mandahasa Meemamse” , K.V. Subbanna’s “Namma Tavaka Tallanagalu”, C.R. Simha’s “Nimma-Simha”, and M.S.K. Prabhu’s “Virodha Vilasa”.

Several collections of poems (including Ramachandra Sharma’s “Saptapadi”), fiction (like Abdul Rashid’s collected short stories), literary criticism (like H.S. Raghavendra Rao’s “Namaskara”), plays, children literature, and folk study have come out of its stable. Translation is another area to receive considerable attention: Rajni Bhakshi’s “Bapu Kuti”: Journeys in Rediscovery of Gandhi , Eduardo Galeano’s “Memory of Fire”, Eric Fromm’s “The Art of Loving”, and K.G. Subramanyan’s book on art appreciation have all been brought to Kannada. Interesting works collating the thoughts of the likes of Noam Chomsky and Antonio Gramsci have also been published.

“Abhinava has not restricted itself to any particular genre of literature,” says Raghavendra Rao, who has closely followed its activities. “Unlike many others, it is an institution without a single icon. On the other hand, it has maintained a multi-foci approach and produced works of authors belonging to several generations. Working without any ideological bias it has given attention to literature of knowledge and culture studies as much as to fiction, poetry and other forms. As importantly, it has broadened its base of authors and established links outside Bangalore city.”

Ravikumar asserts that Abhinava’s selection of books is not influenced by big names but purely on quality and content. “We are concerned about works which present a deeper understanding of life and aesthetics. Some books sell faster than others but then each book will get back our investment because the scripts are carefully handpicked, meticulously edited and well-designed…We have politely but firmly refused material even from well-known authors if we found that quality was not up to the mark. At the same time, we have gone miles to unearth new talent; we’ve never refused unknown writers if we liked the content. And without exception, we pay the same percentage as royalty to all our writers – in cash and not in kind!”

Apart from intensifying search for good material for publishing and building a network of distributors across the State, Ravikumar nurtures a dream to create a cultural centre where interested persons can view and research on rare manuscripts.

“We know that we have very good writers on the one hand, and a very hungry if discerning readership base,” says Ravikumar. “Abhinava wants to be the bridge between the two.”

Prof. S Shettar’s book, “The Sangam Tamilagam and Kannada Land and Language: Reflections on the Early Dravidian Relations” marks Abhinava’s 100th publication; it is scheduled to be released on November 27 at Senate Hall, Central College, 6 p.m.

For details, contact 23505825 or abhinavaravi@gmail.com

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