Much before he earned fame with The Wind in the Willows , Scottish writer Kenneth Grahame penned a collection of wonderfully idiosyncratic essays called Pagan Papers in which he wrote that “it will never be clear to the layman why the book-buyer buys books.”
While Grahame was pre-supposing bookshops and publishers, organisers of the much-touted 88th edition of the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan - the prestigious all-India Marathi literary meet to be held in Punjab this year - are faced with a conundrum where Marathi book publishers are refusing to reach out to book-lovers.
The fest, slated to be held during April 3-5 in the village of Ghuman in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district, also aspires to build bonds with Punjabi, Urdu and Hindi literature while striving for a wider audience for Marathi.
On Tuesday, Marathi publishers have announced their decision to boycott an event they regard as “a quixotic venture” commercially detrimental to their trade, stunning authors and organisers of the event.
“We publish books for an essentially Marathi-speaking and book-loving audience. So, the choice of venue for the literary meet in the Punjab is not only ludicrous but one that will not sell many Marathi books,” said Arun Jakhade, of the Marathi Prakashak Parishad. The fest has only once travelled to North India in 1954, when it took place in Delhi.
Publishers like Mr. Jakhade have further alleged that no concrete or practical suggestions on the logistics to transport books to the Punjab for exhibition purposes had been worked out by the tops guns of the festivals’ organizing committee.
Marathi men of letters are piqued about booksellers merely having an eye on the commercial aspect of the fest and failing to look at the larger, though abstract issues of the spread and preservation of Marathi language and culture.
“The publishers have as much a role to play in the propagation of Marathi literature as do authors. We have given several concessions on rail fares to help them exhibit their books,” said Madhavi Vaidya, president, Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan.
The eight-decade institution of the Marathi’s world’s most prestigious meet has been the butt of vicious lampooning in recent times, not only from publishers, but also from noted authors who have rebuked the farcical irrelevance of such events and their zealous organizers.
Last November, Eminent Marathi litterateur and gadfly Bhalchandra Nemade ruffled the feathers of the Marathi literary establishment by dubbing Marathi literary meets and conferences as a “gathering of idlers.”
However, noted author Ramdas Phutane said that a compromise between authors and publishers would be eventually effected.
“All stalls have been booked. If publishers have complaints about distances and logistics, we are more than open to suggestions. But a boycott is not the way,” said Bharat Desadla, one of the organisers.
