Writers unite in
workshop
11.02.14
A few days ago I received a book Shelter in the city by author Kishore D Shah through courier. It
was only on opening the envelope I discovered that everything was unusual about
the book. Published by Writers Workshop they have unusual titles for different
subjects for instance Baby bird for the Children section, Black bird for the
serious comics, Green bird for fiction and Red bird for poetry.
Details of the Publishing house is inscribed with a Sheaffer
Calligraphy pen on the inside pages. The gold embossed cover is hand stitched,
hand bound in handloom sari. Every Writers Workshop publication is a hand
crafted artifact and therefore in limited edition.
Shelter in the city
is the author’s second book after Home
away from home and tells the story of Vishwas Rao who chooses freedom over
security. Rao prefers to lead an independent life in an Old People’s home
rather than be bound to the rules defined by his children. It is a moving story
of changing India.
Somewhere in the early pages reserved for the copyright a
reads a line –The author asserts his moral right to be identified as the owner
of the intellectual property. It calls for a generous producer to put that in
writing. Writers all over the world are subject to copyright injustice. I shall
borrow the quotation inscribed below their emblem:
Two birds
Sit on the golden bough
Of a peepal tree
One eats
The sweet fruit
Theother watches.
Both are happy.
One is happier.
Which?
(Upanishada IV: 6)
Bhawana Somaaya /
@bhawanasomaaya
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