Dravidian Politics in Hard Cover

There seems to be a big publishing boom in India with more and more Indian authors coming out with English books. It has become pretty common to see atleast two or three book launches every week. We are having a situation where popular foreign books are priced cheaper than some of the works of the Indian writers. I simply don’t understand why the new launches in India need to be brought out in Hard Cover format. The logic behind the Hard Cover format in the West could be the motive to milk the market. I still believe that the India Writers in English (IWE) don’t enjoy a wide readership and attractive pricing and marketing are key to reach out to the Indian audience. This is some area where Rupa & Co. and Chetan Bhagat have achieved tremendous success and other authors and publishers could learn a thing or two from them.

Hitting The Market During Poll Time

Election fever is pretty high in TN and Vaasanthi has seized this opportunity in launching her new book on the inner workings of TN politics. The book has been launched in Hard Cover format and retails at Rs. 425. Given that the book targets only readers from a particular state (or who are interested in the affairs of a particular state), I feel that the book should have been priced much lower to make it attractive to the discerning reader. At this kind of pricing, I would be surprised if they manage to sell a few thousand copies.

Vaasanthi’s new book is called “Cut-outs, Caste and Cine Stars: The World of Tamil Politics”. Vaasanthi has been the editor of the Tamil edition of the India Today for a reasonable period and she has observed TN politics from close quarters. So, this book holds lot of promise.

Tamil Nadu is a state very different from the rest of India, both culturally and historically. It has retained a fundamentally separate identity for itself in language and caste structure, and this is most evident in its politics.

Cut-outs, Caste and Cine Stars: The Word of Tamil Politics tells a political story that has all the elements of a blockbuster film, where ironies and larger-than-life characters abound: Periyar, a Kannada-speaker, who introduced the notions of Tamil self-respect and regional pride, yet dismissed Tamil as 'a barbaric language'; the matinee idol MGR, a Malayalee born in Sri Lanka, who became Tamil Nadu's most popular mass leader; the Dravidian movement which, by its own ideology, should have helped the Dalits but has instead supported only the upwardly mobile middle groups; and parties that rose to power by propagating anti-Hindi and anti-Brahmin sentiments but have now allied themselves with the BJP. It is fitting that this reel-like scenario is presently dominated by the electoral politics of Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa, one a scriptwriter and the other a former actress. Through all this, the author discusses the successes and pitfalls of politics in the state, from the free-meal scheme for students and the elevation of leaders to a divine status to the anti-conversion law and the rising importance of the Dravidian parties in national politics.