Is there a
trend of writers from Europe and America coming to India to get their books
published and earn recognition? The question got new focus at the launch of
Canadian writer Merlaine Hemstraat's new novel "Peacocks among the
Tamarind Trees", a love story involving two doctors from Canada and India,
here recently. "Writers from other parts of the world come here looking
for a bigger audience and accolade," says veteran journalist Dilip Bobb
who attended the launch of Hemstraat's book published by New Delhi-based
Palimpsest. Indian writers would throng the West to get their books published
but with e-books posing an ever-increasing challenge to publications there,
industry experts indicate a reverse flow may have just begun. The big and
burgeoning Indian book publishing market and the country's effervescent
literary culture have begun to attract both established and new writers from
the either side of the Atlantic. "If Jeffrey Archer came here to promote
his new book earlier this year, now it is Hemstraat's turn to launch her book
in India," says Bobb. The trend, he says, was going to get stronger in the
coming days. "Indeed, India has emerged as the third biggest publishing
hub after the US and the UK. If the title and story of Hemstraat's book are
anything to go by, India looms large over the literary landscape as an
influence," says the veteran writer.
Pointing
out that one of the major characters in her novel is an Indian doctor,
Hemstraat said that for her India was "a discovery of new ideas and
values. To get published in India is both an opportunity and honour".
Bhaskar Roy, CEO, Palimpsest, points out that writers as a community are living
in a borderless world. "Contemporary Indian fiction, has captured the
nuances of the country's socio-political reality much better than academic
books," says Roy. In this context, he mentions Subhashini Dinesh's debut
novel, "My Iron Wings" (Palimpsest) which recounts the tension and
uncertainties in Indian society in the wake of the economic reforms in the
early nineties. The book launch was followed by a lively literary conversation
between Hemstraat and Dinesh. Both agreed that women writers are increasingly
occupying more space in the writing world because of their sensitive portrayal
of the world around. "Peacocks Among the Tamarind Trees" is a story
of a group of men and women from different parts of the world, all associated
with the medical profession, who join a rural clinic in the wilderness of Africa.
Faith Valencia, a young and beautiful doctor from Toronto, meets a dashing
Indian surgeon, Dr Aditya Raina, in this clinic. Just when they have begun
discussing marriage, Aditya breaks the terrible news – he is suffering from a
rare, incurable disease. Faith has an easy way out--of sending the ailing man
packing and going back to her former lover, Dr St. Martin, an extremely
talented French doctor. But she takes a different route--marries Aditya and
then goes on to find a cure for him. And finally, the couple comes home to
India.
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