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Gandhi is read more in Kerala than in Gujarat

Among Indian languages, the Malayalam edition (7.68 lakh) sales far outstrips all others with Gujarati edition (6.24 lakh) coming a distinct fourth

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My experiments with truth, Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography seems to have more takers in other parts of the country than Gujarat, if the sale of the books is anything to go by.

Among Indian languages, the Malayalam edition (7.68 lakh) sales far outstrips all others with Gujarati edition (6.24 lakh) coming a distinct fourth. English tops the overall list with a sales of over 20.29 lakh.

What is interesting is that Malayalam edition of the book was made available only in 1997 while the Gujarati edition has been available since 1927. The second highest sale is in Tamil (6.99 lakh) followed by Hindi (6.43 lakh).

What is interesting is that the book was available in Hindi only in 1957 while the Tamil edition was published only in 1994. This means the two South Indian languages racked up a sale of over six lakh only in a span of two decades while the Gujarati edition sale figures reached the six lakh mark in 8 decades!

It should be noted that the data for this story is taken from the autobiography sales figure given by Navjivan Trust that had the sole right to publish Gandhi's writings and speeches until 2009 when the copyright on Gandhi's work came to an end.

Given that Navjivan was the sole publisher of his autobiography till 2009 means its figures could be more or less a representation of the book's sale elsewhere too.

What is interesting is that those who have been in the business of publishing books of Gandhi have a variety of reason to explain why Gandhi is not read much in his own language.

"In states like Kerala and even Madhya Pradesh the government encourages reading of Gandhi's book including his autobiography. In fact his books figure in the must read category for schools. Libraries are also required to procure these books. So a lot of sales come from bulk buying for schools," said Vivek Desai Managing Trustee of Navjivan Trust.

He said for some strange reason Gandhi's books were not part of mandatory reading or purchase by Gujarat government.

"We now plan to approach the government in the matter and even schools so that Gandhi's work is read by children too," said Desai.

Parmeshwar Sharma, the secretary of Poornodaya Book Trust, which is the sole distributor of the autobiography in Malayalam said one reason could be they go out of their way to promote the book. "We hold meetings, seminars and do a lot of activities to promote Gandhi's writing. The sales are a representation of this. In fact until 2017 we have sold over Rs8 lakh copies of over 100 titles on the great man," said Sharma.

He said a high literacy rate also means that the average Keralite is more willing to read. "Moreover, so far communism was at the forefront but now many are disgruntled with it and Gandhi's philosophy provides an appealing alternative said," Sharma.

Rita Kothari, a professor and scholar has a far easy explanation for the book sale figures. "People in the state are not interested in reading or knowing Gandhiji," said Kothari. She said Gujaratis lean more towards self help books and such. "Moreover, you should also remember that Kerala is a highly politically aware state and a lot of Gandhi's writing was political in nature. It is but natural that Kerala would lap it up the way they would a book on Lenin or Stalin," said Kothari.

WHO READ HIM

  • Gujarati edition of the autobiography sold only 6.24 lakh copies despite being in print since 1927, while Malayalam edition, published in 1997, has sold 7.68 lakh copies
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