From the pavements of Connaught Place to the book shops at Khan Market, “Woh Natwar ji ka kitaab” (Natwar Singh’s book) was a common refrain heard among book lovers on Friday. Shops reported brisk sales, even though publisher Rupa Publication did not reveal first day sales figures of former Foreign Minister Natwar Singh’s One Life is not Enough .
“Buyers are mostly the older lot,” said Mithilesh Singh, floor manager at Bahrisons in Khan Market. “Drivers of politicians and bureaucrats have been coming to collect copies since we opened at 9-30 a.m. So have journalists. Not a single young reader so far though.”
By 5-30 p.m., Bahrisons had sold around 160 copies of the hardback. In comparison, Sanjaya Baru’s The Accidental Prime Minister had sold around a 100 copies at the shop on its day of release. At Jain Book Depot in Connaught Place, One Life is Not Enough sold about 50 copies, a third of what Mr. Baru’s book sold there on its first day.
“We don’t have the paperback now but we’ll get it soon. In the beginning it may go for up to Rs.200 but eventually I think it will settle at Rs.100,” a street vendor selling pirated books told this paper. Most booksellers say that unlike Mr. Baru’s book for which people came asking for “the book on the PM”, this time customers mostly used just the author’s name. Although, Mr. Singh has written 10 other books, booksellers knew which one needed to be stocked.
Bureaucrat Prashant Mehta and his friend Rajendra Nigam are regulars at Bahrisons. “We bought a copy each because it seems interesting. It doesn’t matter if it’s political. It will be an interesting tale,” Mr. Mehta said.
