Books becoming bestsellers are a great "comfort" to celebrated author Ruskin Bond as "that means people are reading books and therefore my royalties are safe".
This is an era when some publishers, like some authors, just fade away, said Bond Thursday at the 70th anniversary of Rupa, the publishing firm that has brought out many anthologies by the author.
"Before Rupa," he said, "I had many terrible experiences with publishers, including one where I had to pay their hotel bill. And when they went out of business, they paid up my royalties in the form of their unsold stock.
"The books were in my bedroom, making it impossible for me to go to the bathroom! I was saved only when a nearby shopkeeper took them off me. Later I found out he was happily tearing out the pages to wrap up goodies in them."
Bond also released former external affairs minister Jaswant Singh's second book with Rupa - Travels In Transoxiana about lands over the Hindu Kush and across the Amu Darya.
Singh's family members were in full attendance despite his absence due to the parliament session being on until late evening.
"It has given us immense gratification to have had the opportunity to provide a platform to many, many first time and established authors over the past seven decades," Rupa's director Kapish Mehra said.
{{/usCountry}}"It has given us immense gratification to have had the opportunity to provide a platform to many, many first time and established authors over the past seven decades," Rupa's director Kapish Mehra said.
{{/usCountry}}"The journey has been unbelievable but magical," Mehra told IANS.
Ramesh Menon, author of The Mahabharata: A Modern Retelling and Krishna: Life And Song Of The Blue God, was awarded Rupa's publisher's recognition award for the year.
Menon, who hails from Thiruvananthapuram but has been living in Delhi for many years, said, "Rupa has been very kind to me."
Popular anchor Suneet Tandon read out excerpts from Jaswant Singh's book while authors Nihal Singh and Anurag Mathur looked on.