Niyogi Books forays into illustrated books in Hindi
After making a mark for themselves in large-format illustrated English books, Niyogi Books is now venturing into illustrated Hindi books under the imprint ‘Bahuvachan’. Here, Bikash D Niyogi of Niyogi Books shares more about their new venture and its uniqueness, in conversation with Varsha Verma.
New Delhi based Niyogi Books has not only established itself as one of the leading publishers of large-format illustrated books segment in English, but has also created a niche for itself in translations, fiction and serious non-fiction through the imprints Olive Turtle, Thornbird and Paper Missile respectively. Established in the year 2005, it has more than 500 titles on its active list and is synonymous with high quality standard books at affordable prices, reaching out to a wide and varied readership.
But, the company is not resting on its past laurels. Earlier this year, they had launched their exclusive bookstore in Kolkata, which has been a successful venture. Another feather to their cap, is their foray into illustrated books in Hindi language.
Bahuvachan – an imprint of Niyogi Books
The launch of their Hindi imprint – Bahuvachan – will be held at IIC, New Delhi on January 9, 2019. On asking about the reason for their foray into Hindi language, Bikash D Niyogi of Niyogi Books shares, “We found that there are many readers who like to read books in their mother tongue as there is a particular flavour in it. But, there is a dearth of good quality illustrated books in Hindi. To fill this gap, we are launching our new imprint — Bahuvachan— under which we will offer international quality books at affordable prices.”
“Even the youth of our country today is desirous to learn Indian languages. They want to know as well as respect their mother tongues and what better way than to read books in their own languages.
Today, even the government of India is supporting Hindi languages and literature and we are also trying to contribute in this movement in our own way,” he adds.
Focus on non-fiction titles…
“To start with, we are launching a dozen of books on various genres like personality heritage, Indian art, culture, history, travel, food, etc. This is just the beginning and we may venture into other genres as time comes,” he adds.
Following are the titles to be released shortly — Kumbh Mela: Ek Shanik Mahanagar Ka Praticharan, Dagarva Dhrupad: DivyaVirasat, Dilli ke Aetihasik Gurudware, Zohra Sehgal: Fatty, Rajasthan ki Thali: Paushtik, Swadist, Saral; Sariska: Bagh Sanrakshit Kshetra Mein Phir Se Goonji Dahad, Antarctica: Bharat Ki Himani Mahadweep Ke Liye Yatra, M F Husain: Kala Ka Karmayogi, Apne Bachche Ko Kaise Khilayen, Bismillah Khan: Benaras Ke Ustaad, Avadh Ke Jaayke: Shahi Daawat Se Ghar Ki Rasoi Tak Ka Safar and Bhartiya Shastriya Nritya.
“All these books are non-fiction and illustrated. They have been translated from our own books. The English version of these books have already been accepted worldwide and now we are offering them in Hindi language. These books are very competitively priced between Rs 500 and Rs 1000,” he shares.
On translations…
So how easy/difficult it was to find the right translators? “We are lucky to find good translators. Infact a few of our authors have translated their own books. The quality of translation is upto the mark and we are happy to offer them to our readers,” replies Niyogi.
“We have 500 titles in English and at the moment, we are only looking at translating these published works. We plan to bring out 10-15 titles every year. Given the enormity of the task, even if we are able to translate and bring out 100-150 titles, out of our entire list, in Hindi, we’d be happy. We are focusing on quality rather than quantity and we wish to progress steadily,” he adds.
Target audience…
On asking about the market for these books, Niyogi replied, “These books are targeted at people who wish to read quality books, which will include Hindi scholars and general readers who wish to know more about the subject of interest,” adds Niyogi. “Even general readers will find these books interesting as these are research-based books and contain few rare pictures as well. These books will interest readers not only in India, but also countries like Germany, France, Italy, Russia, Japan, etc where there are Hindi departments in universities.”
On a concluding note…
“We wish to provide good literature in Hindi. We are not only focusing on content, but also quality production and presentation for which Niyogi Books is known for, ” concludes Niyogi.
Comments are closed.