“To surprise my readers,” is the reason Chetan Bhagat gives for his entry into the murder mystery genre. But the fact that The Girl In Room 105 (Westland) is murderous and political is old news: what’s new is Bhagat’s decision to put the book’s Tamil version on par with the English one.
His books have been translated into regional languages such as Hindi, Gujarati, Malayalam and Marathi before, with a fair amount of consistency. But with this book, the first since he switched to Westland publishing house from Rupa Publications, both the author and the publication are going all out. “We will be coming out with translations in languages that have a reading market,” says Bhagat during a tete-a-tete before the Tamil translation’s launch at The Wire Room in Phoenix MarketCity, Velachery on Friday. “In the first round, we are bringing out books in Tamil, Malayalam, Marathi and Hindi.” Telugu, Kannada and a host of other languages are to follow soon.
Tamil was the first translation to be launched, informs the self-professed ' jamai (son-in-law) of Tamil Nadu’, who later talks of his fondness for vatha kuzhambu and payasam , in a chat with the crowd during the launch. This crowd — comprising readers in their teens, 20s and 30s — are a testament to the author’s popularity. They have copies of his book in hand, ask pointed questions about specific characters and his writing style, and listen in rapt attention as he goes on a short, candid monologue about dating life, heartbreak and career.
“How you get over a relationship is very important: you must also ‘learn to unlove,’ the author tells the audience. “You’re in your 20s, love and heartbreak will happen to you. It might take you a couple of years to heal. But you can’t ignore your career during those years; it is a crucial time for your career as well,” he says.
Bhagat is confident about his fan base in this region. In fact, it was an interaction with one such fan, some time ago, that drove home the unfair status quo regional languages have vis a vis English. “He was a student. He told me that he read my book in Tamil when at home, but carried an English copy to college, to show his friends,” recalls Bhagat. “Why is it not considered cool to read Tamil books? It's certainly considered cool to watch Tamil films, and listen to Tamil songs,” he adds.
Another thing that “baffles” him is the size of the books market in some regional languages. “They are much smaller than they should be, there’s so much scope,” he says, acquiescing that translated versions probably won’t do much to help. “But if it makes someone pick up a book in Tamil, why not? We need to reflect why regional language books have not done as well. Maybe we have been too elitist,” says Bhagat.
And so, launch events for each of the four regional languages are to follow, as well as for others. “We will promote each translation as much as we have been promoting the English books till date,” he says, and his reader base seems ready for it.
