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One of India's oldest publishing houses, Motilal Banarsidass (MLBD), a family run business, is readying itself to celebrate its 100th birthday in January 2003 MLBD's books on Indology, philosophy, religion and culture enjoy afar bigger clientele abroad than in India The highest selling publication in English, worldwide, continues to be Vedic Mathematics, group spokesperson R P Jain tells Narayani Ganesh.
Why is 'Vedic Mathematics' so popular?
Since it was first published in 1992, Vedic Mathematics by Jagadguru Sankaracharya Bharati Krishna Tirthji of Puri and Dwarka has been selling 20,000-25,000 copies annually In the UK and some other countries, it is being used as a textbook in schools along with James T Glover's three volume Vedic Maths for Schools Its huge popularity prompted us to hold workshops — we've held 50 such workshops over the last five years In fact, originally, the swami had handwritten 16 volumes, most of which got lost like this, thousands of our original manuscripts have been either lost or smuggled out of the country. It is our endeavour to try and conserve for posterity whatever we can of our rich knowledge heritage This year, we've come out with a new three-volume publication by Kenneth Williams and Mark Gaskell The Cosmic Calculator with a Teacher's Guide and Answer Book They are already being used in examinations for admission to IITs and IIMs.
What about science?
The wide interest generated by Vedic Mathematics in our cultural heritage and tradition has encouraged us to begin an entire new series titled India's Scientific Heritage, edited by L M Singhvi.
We have founded an International Research and Resource Foundation for Indian Heritage incorporating a World Academy for Vedic Mathematics We have a rich heritage that contains many cases of original research that are still unknown to contemporary science The Foundation will explore the art and science of living based on the principles of sustainability and diversity
How did the family switch its business interests from Jewellery to publishing?
Our father, Motilal Banarsidass started the first MLBD bookstore in 1903 by converting a small library into a bookstore — with a princely sum of Rs 27 — at Said Mitha Bazar Anarkali, Lahore the capital of undivided Punjab It was my father’s love for reading and acquiring knowledge that inspired him to take to publishing. Also the Jewellery business was hit by a recession and the family faced with a financial crisis
But why books on spirituality?
Motilalji was greatly influenced by the many spiritual leaders and movements in the country at that time. He was fired with a desire to do something constructive for social uplift. Reviving pride in our heritage and tradition, he thought would be a good way of contributing to boosting the people's knowledge and self-esteem India's rich and varied history of art, culture, tradition, religion and ancient esoteric sciences held him captive He was also eager to relate them to modern scientific methods.
Would you say spiritual publishing is a paying business? What is your turnover"
We've published nearly 5,000 titles in our 99-year service Yet, profit wise, I would say this is a semi-commercial business We have seven branches in India including one at Varanasi, which was our first headquarters in India We also have MLBD Publishers, MLBD Books International, New Age Books and Warehousing We employ some 300 people with 200 in Delhi itself
Our major market is outside India Our earnings from abroad make up 65 per cent of the total — 60 per cent from direct export and 15 per cent from indirect export Amazon..com is already procuring books from us for distribution in the US. We're comfortable with e-commerce.
What has MLBD planned for its centenary celebrations?
We re now well known in the field of Indology Oriental research Sanskrit, Buddhist and Jain studies We are the biggest publishers of books on Buddhism Most of the authors are from outside India Our Buddhist Tradition Series edited by Alex Wayman is into the 50th volume We have so far put out 500 titles on Buddhism alone We plan to extend all this to the audiovisual market. We'll bring out CDs, documentary films heritage-based television serials and events, seminars and conferences.
We'll issue a souvenir on MLBDs history and present and future activities make avail able low-cost publications and organise a series of spiritual lectures beginning with Roy Eugene Davis We'll be instituting an award to honour special contributors Book exhibitions will be held with special discount schemes We plan to conduct some 100 Vedic maths workshops through the year
We have launched New Age Books to
bridge the gap between ancient tradition and modern methods It will target
the younger generation and women catering to pop spirituality yoga meditation
the occult, parapsychology and alternative healing health and nutrition
We have also published a book of fiction woven around a traditional Marwari
family: Stolen Sunshine.
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