Man with titles for all seasons
Aditi Tandon

IN a scenario where publishing is seldom seen as a productive business proposition, a local label is busy redefining the realm by inspiring it with a rich literary and academic base, on the one side, and competitive pricing and marketing, on the other. And, at the heart of a strong "publishing" momentum that has been building up in this part of the North for the past over six years is a man, who started his life from the proverbial scratch.

Bharat Bhushan, who now stands tall in the business with over Rs 25 lakh worth of publications per year, hails from a family that had to pick rags for sustenance soon after the deluge of Partition. Some hope for the family emerged when Bhushan's elder sister fetched herself a job that brought a salary as meagre as that of a clerk. Living hand to mouth, Bhushan, along with his six siblings, managed education with great difficulty and at great costs. It was in the midst of these hardships that the entrepreneur-to-be settled for publishing as his vocation in life.

Decades down the line, Bhushan today publishes an encouraging set of 40 titles per annum. A fairly decent number by any standard, his small little workplace in Sector 17, the commercial centre of Chandigarh, is a haven for those hunting for the best books at best prices. Ask him why he chose Chandigarh as his base for operation and he reasons, "Locating ourselves in a city which is yet to find a place in the publishing map of India helped us widen our reach in terms of authors and readers and interact with people for whom a book is not a showcase curio."

Open when it comes to subjects under consideration, Bhushan's interest lies primarily in things that are creative and have a bearing on human life and circumstances. There is a particular focus on textile technology, a much-sought-after subject of engineering studies, which has meagre publication all over India. Interestingly, Bhushan has acquired foreign rights, besides roping in subject-authors from different parts of the world, to become one of the largest publishers of textile technology books in the world. His publishing house currently has 33 books on the topic.

Subjects are no limitation for Bhushan, who conforms to the ethics of publishing, which, unlike other businesses, has a cultural dimension to guard. That explains why he publishes the best books in the most contrasting of realms -- performing arts, academics, self help, fairy tales and literature, both in English and Hindi. In Hindi alone, Bhushan publishes over 70 titles per year. These feature storybooks for children, who find literature in the mother tongue too hard to procure.

"We don't adhere to any norms of genre, author or nationality. Our purpose is to offer cost effectiveness and quality at the same time. We will not go into exclusive publications, which means we will not publish pure academic work or pulp, nor will be focus entirely on literature. Publishing has to blend all tastes, so that the opportunity of reading can be extended not only to classes but also to masses," says the publisher, who began his career as a salesperson in a Chandigarh bookshop.

It is to honour his commitment to masses that Bhushan, unlike most publishers, comes out with paper back editions of books on self help, entrepreneurship, besides those in general and reference sections, which have sufficient relevance. Cutting down costs to over 25 per cent through paperbacks, Bhushan is actually revolutionizing the trade. He also has over 25 reprints of best-selling books right now. With a distributorship of over 100 in India, he also promotes research-based work which most publishers avoid for the lack of validity and limitation of appeal.

"We are here to cater to all segments of readers, right from students, who have to rush to Delhi to buy good subject books, to the youth, who depend heavily on self-help books to trace motivation. For such readers we have the whole series of Swett Marden," informs Bhushan who is working hard to feed the growing demand from the local level. This is significant for Chandigarh, which, even today, largely depends on Delhi and Jalandhar for import of significant titles, both academic and otherwise. Bhushan reasons, "The local industry did not grow because there was never enough boost available. The demand for textbooks has long been met locally. In fact, whatever little publication Chandigarh has seen is in the field of textbooks. Proximity to Delhi has also limited the publishing potential locally. The demand has, however, been resurfacing over the past some years and we will only be too glad to meet it with our resources and sources. Our strategy will be limited neither by subjects nor by quality. Bulk is the only thing we will consciously avoid. Diversification is also an integral part of our long-term business planning."

Interestingly, Bhushan has published a significant book tracing the growth of Chandigarh, one of the finest examples of urban planning in the 20th century. The concept of "Chandigarh: The City Beautiful", emerged when the idea of 50 years of Chandigarh was first celebrated in 1999. It was Bhushan who took the lead and roped in famous city-based architect Aditya Prakash to write this best selling book for him. As of today, this book has sold 1200 copies.

That is what Bhushan calls diversification.

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