Launching a Book.

          I love reading books, I love writing books, translating them, even editing them, but book launches for some reason, I find boring. Specially if there’s a politician’s speech involved. Or a company chairman’s. Or a swami’s. Or the author’s cousin’s. Perhaps the disinterest stems from the fact that at the time of the launch (or, as Mr George Menezes says, ‘release’, as launch reminds him of something violent, like rockets), I’ve not read the book concerned and have no questions in my head. Quite often, the questions at a release aren’t about the book. Those present want to know the opinions of the writer on various current happenings, or personal habits or family matters. At the GALF (Goa Art and Literary Festival) in December, Bina Ramani’s book on her experience of the Jessica Lall murder case and Patricia Sethi’s biography of Mr Chauhan of Parle interested me. Ramani was a first time author, and Sethi a seasoned one. One spent time in jail and the writing was likely to be cathartic at some level. The other was a documentation of a successful businessman’s life; Sethi’s prose was what I was looking at. In both cases, the launch events gave barely an inkling of how good the books were.

          As always, there are exceptions to the rule. First, a recent release in Panaji of ‘The Diary of an Infantryman’ by Brig Ian da Costa, VSM, Retd. The First Speaker was a doctor who, for twenty minutes, told us how brave Goans were, specially Goan officers in the Defence Forces, how they died valiantly, what high standards of discipline they had, how they were loved by one and all, etc. A retired Vice Chief of the Navy, who took the mike from him, very mildly and very, very firmly said that men are respected not because they are Goans. It’s the character, integrity, loyalty, professionalism that mattered no matter where they were from. He gave examples. The speech got me interested in the book. He explained why the Armed Forces were different from every other walk of life. It didn’t matter what your mother-tongue was. Religion was Indian-ness and humanity. All the uniformed (wo)man wants, he said, is izzat (hard to translate, the closest word is honour) and sachaee (truth, honesty). Brig da Costa, the author, took the mike and with characteristic candour minced no words. Anyone who has got a medal for exceptional service, he said, knows it’s recognition of those who are working under him/her. If a General is good, it means the staff under him is good. He said something about Liberation that drew many claps from the audience: “… it wasn’t war, more like bursting Diwali crackers.” I paid heed to that because I believe we need to stop harping about our opinions of the past and move on to a better future. This is how he felt about the soldiers working under him: “I will not forget my batman until my breath is gone.” His narrated his experiences of working in a Goan office and the corruption he saw there. Pity that book wasn’t polished by an editor. It is, as the title says, a ‘diary’. Still, it held my civilian attention through the pages that told me about life in an infantry unit.

          Second exception to the rule of boring book launches: Jerry Pinto. He can hold the attention of the audience. His release of “Em and the Big Hoom” last year was funny; the book was serious stuff, well written, I later discovered. Jerry revealed the journey of a professional author. He told us how he did the research for a previous book on Helen the actress and another which was a compilation of poems, and this year, he told us about his translation of ‘Cobalt Blue’ from Marathi to English. From his daily routine to his method of writing, to the money he gets, in his book releases he tells it all.

          The third and best book release I’ve ever attended was at Literati two years ago, of ‘Inside Out’, published by a motley group, the GoaWriters. The book had contributions from and was put together by the members. A copy was wrapped in banana leaf and covered completely with fermented dough. The whole thing was baked and served hot to Amitav Ghosh who ‘released’ it by actually breaking pieces of the bread and eating them. The idea was apt because the cover, too, depicted local Goan pao coming out of a burning wood furnace. Children’s book releases sometimes have fun elements (balloons, masks) added to them, but adult ones are seldom so creative. There’s no doubt that that Inside Out’s book launch would be unmatched for sheer novelty anywhere in the world at any time. I think Goa does something to keep the creative juices bubbling.

          A fourth memorable launch was of my Marathi-English translation of ‘Ward No 5, KEM’. The speakers were doctors. They were excellent orators, and their speeches were studded with quotes and verses in English, Marathi and Sanskrit. More, the humour kept the audience in splits. Not a single speaker spoke for more than three minutes.

          I wonder whether ‘Book Launch’ is a subject in event management courses. Considering the number of launches happening everywhere (and the number of literary festivals hosting them), it should be. Event managers should also know whom to invite and how to keep the audience interested in the book. That’s the only way books will get buyers. Otherwise, a large bulk of the people will simply walk away after the ‘launch’.