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Author bargains for pirated copy of her own book in Delhi’s Connaught Place: ‘Author discount milega?’
An author discovered a pirated copy of her own book at Delhi’s Connaught Place, bargained for it on camera.
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A video showing an author bargaining for a pirated copy of her own book at Delhi’s Connaught Place has gone viral on social media.
Taking to Instagram, author Radhika Agrawal shared a clip of herself visiting a local street vendor at Connaught Place, where she spotted a pirated version of her book Red Flags and Rishtas: A Desi Rom Com being sold openly.
In the video, Agrawal asks the vendor about the price of the book, to which he replies that it costs ₹350. She then jokingly asks, “Author discount milega?” before revealing, “Ye meri book hai.”
The unexpected moment appears to amuse the vendor, who eventually agrees to sell the book to her for ₹100, turning the interaction into a humorous yet ironic exchange.
Take a look here at the clip:
Viral video highlights piracy concerns
Sharing the video, Agrawal used humour to address a serious concern surrounding piracy in the publishing world. Her caption read: “How would you rate my bargaining skills? Jokes aside, piracy is one of those things that feels harmless until you realise that it threatens the entire publishing industry and harms the author in more ways than you can imagine. It chips away at author sales, royalties, and even future book deals. Books run on numbers and those numbers matter more than we like to admit.”
The clip has since crossed more than 10 million views, prompting several reactions.
Internet reacts with humour and concern
Social media users flooded the comments section with a mix of humour, surprise and support for the author. One user wrote, “Plot twist nobody expected.” Another commented, “Imagine bargaining with the person who actually wrote the book.”
A third user said, “This is funny but also sad because piracy really hurts creators.” Another added, “The vendor probably didn’t realise who he was talking to.” One comment read, “At least you got the author discount,” while another user wrote, “People think pirated books are harmless, but this explains the real impact.”
(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)
