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The Hindu
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Kanishka Gupta's open door policy
Kanishka Gupta, 43, is likely the most popular book agent in the country right now. One strategy that has helped him go from being an outsider who 'didn't know the ABC of agenting' — and someone whom publishers fobbed off by saying they didn't pay author advances — to an industry insider who runs the largest literary agency in South Asia, is that he always keeps his doors open. 'I don't say, tune mujhe kitab nahi di, katti (You didn't give me your book, so I won't speak to you),' he says. He once helped a journalist-author conduct an auction for her book despite the fact that she didn't want him to be her agent. In turn, she introduced him to many writers. In an insulated and competitive field, Gupta's open door policy is rare. Now he's the agent for feminist lawyer Indira Jaising's conversational biography with Ritu Menon; says he can tell if ChatGPT is the real author of a piece of writing by the overuse of words such as 'tapestry' and 'align'; and promises to send me an award-winning book published in 2019 that he's re-pitching for publication in the U.K. and the U.S. because he has 'never read a book like this'. He's talking about Numair Atif Choudhury's Babu Bangladesh!. Choudhury died in a freak drowning accident in Japan a year before his book was released. He may not yet have discovered an Arundhati Roy in his slush pile, like literary agent David Godwin once did, but Gupta now has an author roster that includes two International Booker winners in four years. He is the agent for Banu Mushtaq's Heart Lamp (translated by Deepa Bhasthi), which recently bested around 150 entries to win the prestigious prize. He was also translator Daisy Rockwell's agent when she and author Geetanjali Shree won the 2022 International Booker for Tomb of Sand. Agent 'by accident' Gupta was also representing two books of Shehan Karunatilaka when the Sri Lankan writer won the 2022 Booker Prize (Gupta got a shoutout in the victory speech alongside Godwin). His author Avni Doshi's Burnt Sugar was shortlisted for the Booker in 2020. Gupta says he's been the agent for around 1,700-1,800 published books so far. As Heart Lamp propels bookstore sales across the country, Gupta has been inundated with translation offers. '…Malay, Sinhala, Portuguese, Greek, Italian, Arabic… a Georgian publisher is interested, the Polish book is a big deal,' he rattles off at 2x speed, adding that he has also received invites from 30 literature festivals. Gupta became an agent 'by accident'. In school he had 'zero interest' in books. As a teenager, he suffered from 'life-threatening depression' and a few years after, he began writing a book. Somehow, due to regular visits to Delhi book shops, he developed an interest in publishing. 'I kept observing and Googling,' he says. His own book was rejected by publishers at first because it was overwritten. But in classic Gupta style, he worked on his own writing, read voraciously and made it to the longlist of the now discontinued Man Asian Literary Prize. At 21, he was that pesky author who would email agents repeatedly (he still has half-a-dozen manuscripts, 'one worse than the other'). The people connect He had two short stints working with literary stalwarts Namita Gokhale and Mita Kapur and, in 2008, he started Writer's Side to give authors editorial feedback. Two years later, when he signed on his first client, Anees Salim, then an unknown author, Gupta became a literary agent. 'There was a lot of opposition, confusion, uncertainty from the publishing industry,' he says about the early years. 'I had no credentials, some were not keen on working with me, but I always stayed in touch with people and that worked for me.' When his business thrived, Gupta began sharing his observations about the publishing industry. 'I'm blunt, so I'm disliked. Once I felt I was in a position to speak my mind, I started doing that,' he says. 'I called out the nepotism and casteism in publishing.' One of his pet peeves is that many talented authors are forced to publish paperback books while the hardbacks seem to be reserved for the prestige memoirs of bureaucrats. The breadth of Gupta's author list is impressive. 'I'm known for my translation list,' he says. 'It's big.' But then he has also been the agent for at least 50 Pakistani authors. He has a long list of nature writing, sports books, Dalit writers and academics-turned-authors. 'I'm open to everything,' he says. After 7-8 years of wading through the slush pile to discover writers, Gupta now has the luxury to operate from references and his travels. He represented Pakistani author Moni Mohsin after meeting her at the Galle Literature Festival in Sri Lanka and signed up writer and naturalist Yuvan Aves after they connected at the Jaipur Literature Festival. He was the agent for the book, Trial By Fire, about the Uphaar cinema tragedy, and Life after MH370, written by a man who lost his wife on the plane. 'I get drawn to personal stories,' Gupta says. His personal story is not bad either. The writer is a Bengaluru-based journalist and the co-founder of India Love Project on Instagram.
Indian Express
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Know Your City: Bangalore International Centre, an engaging community space in a fast-growing metropolis
As the city expands and the 'old Bengaluru' that long-time residents were nostalgic about slowly fades, the conversation around the city's public spaces has emerged. Often, these are centuries-old lakes and monuments, and parks dating back to the era of the Raj. But just as worthy of conversation are those public spaces that bring visitors together to share culture, music, or art. One of the foremost such spaces in the city today is the Bangalore International Centre (BIC), located in Domlur, just off Indiranagar's 1st Main Road. Scroll through the list of events being held here, and you might see a prominent local musician performing, an interview with an internationally known author, or an exhibit of the works of a legendary cartoonist. The venue has seen events from cricketer Javagal Srinath discussing the physics of a cricket ball, to conversations with RBI governors. Recently, it even hosted writer-translator duo Deepa Bhasti and Banu Mushtaq, barely weeks before Mushtaq's short story collection The Heart Lamp won the International Booker. While the BIC has operated out of its own premises since 2019, when it originally started up in 2005, events were hosted on the premises of the southern regional centre of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in Bengaluru. According to V Ravichandar, who became a member of BIC's board in 2010, the India International Centre in New Delhi served as an inspiration. He said, 'November 20, 2005, was when Abdul Kalam came to inaugurate the centre (BIC)…we continued using the TERI premises until 2019 as the building project took nine years.' He recalled, 'We used to average about five events a month – now it is closer to 40. Now that we have our own centre we have been able to ramp up to about 480 programmes per year.' Ravichandar noted that a committee of around 15 members is responsible for coordinating the events at the centre. There are three main sources for these events – walk-in inquiries where people approach the centre regarding a programme; programmes with partners such as the Science Gallery Bengaluru; and in-house efforts to conduct programmes. An example of in-house efforts is the upcoming June 7 event for World Environment Day, which will feature exhibitions on topics as diverse as coffee and cartoons, alongside children's workshops and film screenings with discussions. On how the centre keeps the process funded, Ravichandar said, 'We have about 1,100 members paying about Rs 7,500 per year as an annual subscription, who are doing it because they believe Bengaluru needs a place like BIC. It is not a club, which is more exclusive, but an inclusive space that is free to attend. Another source is the rental of the space for events with objectives similar to BIC, such conversation, art and culture.' Prominent persons had also pitched in to cover two-thirds of the costs for the building and land in Domlur, including Nandan and Rohini Nilekani, the Azim Premji Foundation and Mohandas Pai, to name but a few, with members covering up the rest of the cost. Ravichandar recalled a competition in around 2011 where 84 architects from around the world applied to design the BIC and Bijoy Ramachandran of Hundredhands was selected through a jury. 'We always joke that we wanted two acres by the lake but got half an acre by the drain. The location was a challenge. The question was how do you build a public space in a residential area? The scale cannot be different. How do you build a space that looks spacious in not that much space? Bijoy has achieved this very well,' Ravichandran said. Sharing the thought behind the building with The Indian Express, architect Bijoy Ramachandran described it as an unusual project for an architect. 'Something that is open for everybody to use….a lot of what we did is examine what it means to make a public building, what kind of space is truly public, what about its space, materiality, its connection to the outside and what makes it feel like a communal space?….we realised that the holding was smaller than what we did in the competition. We had to completely reform the building in the new site boundary. The real challenge was to have this kind of public building which feels generous and open in a very tight site,' Ramachandran said. Those interested in attending events at the BIC may consult their website at Events are largely free, with a few rare exceptions, though some have RSVP requirements to manage effective seating.
Deccan Herald
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Deccan Herald
CM Siddaramaiah calls Banu Mushtaq ‘bold, progressive voice for Muslim women'
Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah felicitated International Booker prize-winning Kannada author Banu Mushtaq and her English translator Deepa Bhasthi at a programme organised by the Kannada and Culture department on Mushtaq's translated work, 'Heart Lamp,' won the International Booker prize recently. .On the occasion, Siddaramaiah said, 'Literature has the power to bind society'..'Literature should unite, not divide us. Banu Mushtaq has brought pride to Kannada by winning the Booker Prize. This is a moment of collective pride for the entire Kannada-speaking world,' he said. .'As a bold and progressive voice for Muslim women, Banu Mushtaq has stood against orthodoxy and fulfilled the responsibility of delivering a humanistic message through her literature,' the chief minister said. .People's understanding of Kannada is incorrect, there's no language as tolerant as ours: Banu announced a Rs 10-lakh award each for Mushtaq and Bhasthi, along with government support for translating Banu Mushtaq's other works into English..A visibly moved Mushtaq said, 'Karnataka helped me grow roots, form ideas and inspired my creativity. Winning the Booker was a dream. But the encouragement I received online kept me going. This honour from the state means more to me than any award I've received.'.She emphasised Kannada's spirit of inclusivity and harmony and noted, 'No other language lives as harmoniously as Kannada'..To young writers, she said, 'Believe in your voice. This award belongs to every writer, poet, storyteller and singer in Karnataka. There are countless stories to tell — let's tell them all'..Bhasthi spoke of language as a living, evolving force..'Kannada has not been elevated by the Booker. Instead, the award has elevated the status of English and English thrives because it absorbs cultures. Let us not bend Kannada to fit English. Instead, stretch English to suit Kannada's music, tempo and accent,' she called for 'decolonisation of English,' asserting, 'No one can take away our language rights'..Bhasthi emphasised the need for continued dialogue on language, identity and translation to ensure the Booker prize recognition has lasting significance.
The Hindu
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Signed copies of book in London in Kannada, says Booker prize winner Banu Mushtaq
International Booker award recipient Banu Mushtaq was felicitated by the Karnataka Union of Working Journalists in Bengaluru on May 28. Banu Mushtaq, a writer, lawyer and activist, began writing about her people, their joys, sorrows and anxieties, over five decades ago. On May 20, Heart Lamp, a collection of 12 short stories selected from her work written between 1990 and 2023 and translated by Deepa Bhasthi, won the International Booker Prize for 2025. During the felicitation, among other things, she shared her experience of travelling to London. 'In London, whoever approached me to sign their copy of 'Heart Lamp', I signed them in Kannada. The other shortlisted writers were masters degree holders. I was the only one to be a grassroots writer.' Apart from being a renowned writer, she is an advocate by profession. However, she started her career as a journalist for the Lankesh Patrike, and had a four decade-long stint in journalism. 'Heart Lamp' was a major success in the field of literature earning a huge profit of ₹6 crore for Penguin publishers. Heart lamp will be translated to 35 languages. According to Banu Mushtaq, 'People, irrespective of caste, race and community, were celebrating my success. Following the success of the book, many filmmakers had approached me for film rights.' Girish Kasaravalli, a renowned director, made a film based on Kari Nagaragalu, one of the short stories in the book. The film was called Hasina, and won a national award for best actor. Banu Mushtaq will be felicitated by the government of Karnataka at Vidhana Soudha on June 2.
Time of India
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Hazy Angrezi
Bachi Karkaria's Erratica and its cheeky sign-off character, Alec Smart, have had a growing league of followers since 1994 when the column began in the Metropolis on Saturday. It now appears on the Edit Page of the Times of India, every Thursday. It takes a sly dig at whatever has inflated political/celebrity egos, and got public knickers in a twist that week. It makes you chuckle, think and marvel at the elasticity of the English language. It is a shooting-from-the-lip advice column to the lovelorn and otherwise torn, telling them to stop cribbing and start living -- all in her her branded pithy, witty style. LESS ... MORE It's in the news but I'm confused Last weekend, TOI put me in a quandary. Saturday's top edit was called 'The Importance Of Being Earnest'. It wasn't about Wilde's misplaced baby. It was about untamed consequences of international misunderstanding. Deploying examples from military history it conveyed real-time caution to the seven delegations of multi-party MPs who've fanned out to present the truth about Pak-sponsored terrorism. The edit warned that this important attempt to remove any misunderstanding about our position harbours a possibility of the message itself being mis-understood in any of the targeted 33 countries. Ignoring Hindi jihadis – and subtly promoting its own USP – TOI pitched English as the best medium for the message. I'll say 'Three, or rather 33, cheers!' to that. Provided the messengers themselves – 'experienced and articulate' though they are – have been fully briefed not only on What, but more so on How. Why? Because, like truth and Tharoor, English is seldom plain and almost never simple. Then STOI rah-rah-ed Banu Mushtaq's International Booker win. No problem with that. It's the equal applause for the translation that's causing my confusion. Illa, illa, I'm not thoo-thoo-ing Deepa Bhasthi's raw, hybrid English moulded to the contours of colloquial Kannada. I'm all for empire currying the King's angrezi. But then what happens to the previous para's stance? Imagine the Babel if our diplomats start adding their own idiomatic tadka? More to my point, do aforesaid 'global-outreach' MPs have linguistic handlers? Parroting script no can do. Complex questions will demand nuanswers. One misstep could make the whole exercise stumble. Earlier remarks on Col Sofiya further complicate this 'propah-improppur English' business. The MP mantri tried shrugging off a bigoted and sexist slur as a mere 'linguistic mistake'. The SIT will hopefully rubbish this MCP's men-dacity as SC did his non-apology. My question concerns Dr Ali Khan. Call me elitist, but how 'linguistically' equipped are those cops tasked with fine-toothcombing all his past posts written in professorial English? With 'anti-national' the semantic chameleon of our time, I hope no dis-understanding there. *** Alec Smart said: 'Mumbai' metro stations submerged. Undergrounded. ' Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
