Bookshops continue to sell many copies of these books. Saisuthe, H G Radhadevi, Usha Navarathna Rram and Anupama Niranjana, whose stories revolve around a Bengaluru-centric lower and upper middle class culture and social situations, had a huge following of women as readers. Many of them were written long ago, but are still in demand. These are the books written by women and appeal to women. The neatly stacked Kannada novels written by Saisuthe and H G Radhadevi in a corner of the Rainbow bookshop give another insight into what sells: popular women-centric fiction is still a hit. Some of the bestsellers among Kannada books. A peek into the bookshop gives an idea about what sells in Kannada: shlokas, prayers, jokes, cooking, personality development, short stories of personalities and a few children’s collections are on the ‘hot’ category. Though not comparable to big bookshops in the city, this shop stocks only what sells. What sells the most?Ī few metres ahead, there is another formal bookshop: the Rainbow Book Exhibition. He handles a courier collection franchise, to help himself break even in the business. He just says Kannada book buyers are becoming a minority with the passage of time. Gupta, the proprietor, a man in his 60s seems uncomfortable talking about his sales and membership.
Many contemporary Kannada magazines, shloka and devotional literature occupy the front, visible part of the small shop.
A quick look at the book collection on the Rajyothsava day reveals many English pulp fiction - but no Kannada books.Ī few shops ahead, there is a board: ‘Gupta Circulating Library.’ The shop houses many old books - bound, numbered and neatly stacked, presumably constituting the library part of it. Nestled close to the famous Holige Mane and Bhagyalakshmi Gulkhan shop is an informal bookshop, next to the pavement. Sampige Road, the road that leads to Malleshwaram, has something to offer to everyone. This year she is planing to publish two more books, and venture into storytelling.Roadside book vendors don’t stock Kannada books. Yaji further said due to the response, and few books being there in the segment, she will be coming out with new books. ‘Ruchi’ talks about vegetables and tastes, while Beeja is a wordless book, which is about the growth of plant life at various levels, through the minds of children. Explaining more about the books, she said ‘Modala Odu’ and ‘Ruchi’ introduces relationships like father, mother and grandfather to children. The books are in high demand in districts in North Karnataka. However the deal is delayed due to the lockdown,” she said. “The response for the books is startling, and even Delhi Public School has shown interest in purchasing our books. In March 2021, she decided to make it public with the help of her husband. Yaji said about four years back, when she could not find quality books for her daughter, she decided to create them on her own. The publication sold over 500 copies so far, comprising all the four books. Another book, ‘Navilura Sante’ (Navilur market) has been published through crowdfunding. The illustrations for the books are done by Vanita, and Shwetha for ‘Beeja’. Yaji is a founding member of a new unconventional private school, Bidiru, which is located in Bengaluru, and she is also an art teacher. A publication house, Ellara Pusaka of Vanita Annayya Yaji of Yellapur and her husband Kailash T V, has now come up with three books, ‘Modala Odu’ (First Read), ‘Ruchi’ (Tastes) and ‘Beeja’ (seed). Although Tulika publishes books in regional languages, they are mostly translations.
For a long time, there was no Kannada literature for children, that were on par with English books published by Tulika, Pratham and others. The books will be sold in reputed bookshops like Swapna, Anikta, Light Room and Blossoms, while private schools have also shown interest to buy the books. BELAGAVI: These Kannada books for children are a new hit in the state, for their innovative approach, to introduce to children in the age group of 2-7.