Thursday, December 27, 2012

Book Review : More Than Everest - He Conquered the Hearts of Men


Title : More Than Everest
Author : Dr. Harish Dhillon
Publisher : Hay House 
ISBN : 978-93-80480-95-4

I often used to wonder how could travelogues or writings on personal adventures, mountaineering, trekking or any such activity be of interest to a reader curled up with the book in the confines of his/her home. But it was just a matter of getting initiated by the right book and fortunately after having read the likes of Jon Krauker and Bill Bryson, I gladly stand corrected. Thanks to the chronicled words of the mountaineers and trekkers, their armchair counterparts like me can at least virtually partake some part of the thrill that they experience in person.

With mountain peak beckoning thus - "Although Mount Everest was already conquered, its romance remained, and the age of discovery of the earth was not over.  That mountain still stood as a challenge to the human spirit and nations were tempted to accept that challenge", on 20th May, 1965, a young member of the Indian expedition, who had never been a mountaineer, planted the Indian flag on the summit of Everest, the first Indian to do so - Autar Cheema with Nawang Gombu on his rope.

This achievement worked as a much needed balm for the bruised self esteem of our country in early 1965 when the treacherous scars of defeat from treacherous China were still very much fresh and Pakistan was trying to make the most of the vulnerable situation of India by encroaching upon Indian territory in Rann of Kutch. Besides these two external foes, there was one internal adversary too - the shortage of food." It is with this backdrop on the subcontinent that an expedition to climb Mount Everest by Indians was allowed. "

'More Than Everest' is a befitting tribute to a person who donned many hats with élan by dint of his inner strength of character, audacity and tenacity. From being a highly decorated paratrooper in Indian Army, a mountaineer to have achieved the rarest of the rare feats, a compassionate and visionary farmer to a loving family man, Autar Singh Cheema achieved all. The book traverses his journey from his childhood years through various stages of his life and career till his last days when he fought like a brave soldier against a formidable enemy leukemia. In a life which spanned less than six decades, Autar Singh managed to make an indelible mark in the annals of Indian and international mountaineering and has thus attained immortality.

I am reminded of a very famous dialogue from a Hindi movie Anand - 'Life badi honi chaahiye lambi nahin' (Life should be large, not long). Autar Singh's life is a true example of a large life.

This book is the brainchild of his niece - Preena Sandhu, who along with Mrs. Autar Singh Cheema collected and collated all information to finally hand it over to the author Dr. Harish Dhillon to do justice to Cheema spirit through his pen.

Every phase of Cheema's life is handled in detail in separate sections and one is dedicated to mountaineering. Some rare diary entries recorded by Cheema brings the real flavour of what goes on in the mind of a person while in the midst of action. This chapter covers all - preparation for the rigorous climb, the thrill and excitement of having conquered Mt. Everest and the adulation that followed this adventure.  

The biography comes across as a very well researched piece of writing appropriately supported by ample number of pictures from Cheema's life, which makes it a visually pleasing read. However, it runs a high  risk of overwhelming the readers with too many names and some not so significant incidents.

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Book Review : Autobiography of a Duck



Title : Autobiography of a Duck
Author : John Arnold
ISBN : 9781478255482

John Arnold spins an endearing story around the life of a duck by the name Donald and through this poignant story the vicissitudes of duck's life are brought to the readers.
Seen through the eyes of a wise duck, his hurdles and accomplishments, friends and foes, joys and sorrows come to life as the author beautifully sketches each of them with panache.

Donald is hatched in a large family but soon an unhappy incident happens in his life. He is taken away with some other ducklings by the humans to The Lake Brother's Traveling Carnival and Circus. Along with other ducklings, Donald is kept as a prize in a concession where humans try to throw nickels into plates. While waiting to be won by someone, Donald makes friends with another duck - Waddles, who successfully escapes from the carnival.

Donald eventually finds a wonderful home and there a loving little boy showers his attention, affection and love on the little duck. He even ends up fetching an award 'The most unusual pet' for his owner.  While living in the house, Donald makes many friends - Sapphire, the messenger Bluebird, LeRoy and a nice cat Seymour. He enjoys the company of his friends but is equally scared of the neighbourhood cats.  In short he has a happy and peaceful life here.

A delightful and funny tale indeed written with love and compassion for the family pet. Families with pets would surely relate to this story. The companionship between the young boy and Arnold is simply fascinating. A very positive story and especially the end when gradually Donald gets ready for the ultimate truth of life - the inevitable end. More illustrations or pictures would have enhanced the overall impact of the story. 

Friday, December 21, 2012

Book Review : Moin the Monster Songster


Title : Moin the Monster Songster
Author : Anushka Ravishankar
Illustrator : Anitha Balachnadran
Publisher : Duckbill
ISBN : 9789381626917

The uninvited guest in the form of a monster was mysteriously found under Moin's bed in 'Moin and the Monster'.
In the sequel by the name 'Moin the Monster Songster' the same pink coloured monster is still very much a part of Moin's life and is sharing his room, his friends and his bananas too. The monster recalls some strange monster rules off and on and one of Moin's friends Tony is careful enough to record each of these rules in a separate rule book.

Because of monster's particularly uniquely screeching voice and his penchant for singing, which Moin's parents mistook as Moin's singing, Moin has  been forbidden to sing in the house. But his tutor has very good impression of Moin's singing and he is one of the star singers in the concert that the tutor has organised. But the monster who was supposedly locked in Moin's cupboard, somehow sneaks out and is now free to enjoy the musical evening and he has one weakness, he cannot restrain himself from singing if he hears anybody singing.

It turns out to be an adventurous evening when the music teacher gets to witness the music prowess of his star student Moin and gets a shock of his life. But surprisingly the screeching voice still manages to win one patron in the gathering - none other than a Bollywood music maestro himself.

The laugh riot that began with 'Moin and the Monster' continues in 'Moin the Monster Songster'.  Anushka Ravishankar's writings are enjoyed thoroughly by the young readers as the same are sprinkled with generous doses of fun, humour and  entertainment. Unlike most of the Indian children's books, the preaching or education part is not the focus in the same. 

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Book Review : The Bronze Bow


Title : The Bronze Bow
Author : Elizabeth George Speare
Publisher : HMCo
Age : Young Adult

In the times when incidents inspired by hate outnumber the ones driven by love and affection, when compassion seems to be running low in our hearts, when patience is looked down upon as a tool of meek and weak and when display of aggression seems to be the new and modern flavor, it is extremely essential to go back to the priceless teachings of the enlightened souls who graced the Earth with their divine presence. And what better time than around Christmas - the festival of light, which symbolizes happiness and merriment.

Daniel bar Jamin happens to witness the crucifixion of his father by Roman soldiers. Taking revenge by driving the Roman dominion out of the land of Israel becomes his only motto in life. Harboring deep hatred in his heart, he joins the band of an outlaw who resides in the hills outside the city limits. Forced by circumstances post his grandmother's death, he finds himself to be the only one who now needs to take care of his sister. But while living in the village he establishes a group of like minded guerrillas with sole mission of taking revenge. Fired by hatred, he fails to see and acknowledge tender feelings of his sister Leah, his friend Joel and Joel's sister Malthace.

There is one thing which empowers him and provides solace to his agitated nerves always and that is the Song of David

"God is my safe refuge,
And has made my way safe.
He made my feet like hind's feet,
And set me secure on the heights.
He trains my hands for war,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze."

and Malthace beautifully interprets the meaning as - When God strengthens us, we can do anything that seems impossible.

While he nurtured the hatred towards Romans passionately in his heart, teachings of Jesus of Nazareth had some other message to convey. Calm demeanor of Jesus always attracted Daniel but his words 'It is the hate that is the enemy, not men. Hate does not die with killing. It only springs up a hundredfold. The only thing stronger than hate is love', made Daniel's whole fabric of being shake. He always found hatred and feeling of vengeance so much closer to him that imagining his self devoid of these two was almost impossible for him. But after having experienced the pain of losing two of his dear ones with his own sword of hatred and after having pushed his sister to life threatening isolation again, he could finally understand the true meaning of David's words - 'He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze' - that perhaps only love could bend the bow of bronze.

"The only chains that matter are fear and hate because they chain our souls. If we do not hate anyone and do not fear anyone then we are free."

The scene here is set in Jerusalem at the time of Christ. Author beautifully conveys Jesus's message of peace amidst chaos, hatred, violence, pain and distress through the story of Daniel. It is indeed a moving and sensitive tale to emphasize that no matter how big and dear revenge and hatred appear to be, forgiveness and love pave the way for actual deliverance.

'The Bronze Bow' is the winner of the 1962 Newbery Medal

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Interview : Ashok K. Banker


    Ashok K. Banker needs  no introduction. He is an acclaimed author of mixed-race and mixed-cultural background. His writing spans crime thrillers, essays, literary criticism, fiction and mythological retellings. Epic India Library is his brain child and through this he plans to retell all the major myths, legends and itihasa of the Indian subcontinent in an interlinked cycle of over 70 volumes. The Ramayana series, Krishna Coriolis and the Mahabharata series are part of this library.
    An author par excellence, here is a peak into his personality through this e-interview.

  1. What was the main inspiration behind starting to write? What story you really wanted to tell the world through your writing?

  2. I began reading at a very young age and by the age of 7 was reading voraciously. I particularly loved encyclopedias and dictionaries and always carried a dictionary to school to read during short break and lunch break. I wont go into my family background here as it has been covered extensively in several hundred interviews over the decades, but to sum up, writing and reading were my way of coping with the essential chaos and violence of my circumstances. By the age of 9, I had read my way through most of the essential mythological and religious literature of all major religions and knew that I wanted to be an author and write books related to the epics. The rest of my life was spent studying, researching and preparing myself for the task. The only story I truly wanted to tell the world was the Story of India. The greatest untold story in world literature.

  3. Please tell us about your Epic India Library and why did you feel the need to start the same?

  4. The bookshelves of the world are filled with countless retellings, editions, popular as well as scholarly works on the mythology, culture, history and folklore of other nations and continents. Yet the great epics of the sub-continent, which are undoubtedly among the greatest stories in world literature are almost completely absent from those bookshelves. Even if you explain this lacuna on racism and western bias against eastern civilizations, you always have to note that Indian writers themselves have rarely bothered to retell or relate the tales of their own culture. Our authors are mostly interested in writing stories about their own sexuality, addictions, coming of age, marriages and relationships, work and career, with an almost visible absence in this area of itihasa and epics. By the time I was in my 30s, I had read literally thousands of books without ever finding any good retellings of our epics that appealed to me. I realized that I was yearning to read Indian stories and if I wanted such books, the only option was to go back to the source and study them again myself. So I began reading the epics and puranas. I realized that almost none of these stories had been done justice to in any book or collection. So I began writing, just to see how they might be retold in a way that I, as a reader, would enjoy reading them. What began as a writing experiment turned into the first project, the Ramayana Series. Before I was finished with it, I decided that I wanted to continue to retell ALL the major myths, legends and itihasa of the Indian sub-continent. When complete, that collection of over 100 books will constitute what I call the Epic India Library.

  5. In the times when social media sites are on the rise and an individual's popularity is gauged by the followers and readers of one's sites and links, why and how did you decide to stay away from the same?

  6. Every person has their own way of achieving success and seeking what they want in life and each way is valid. To me, the writing is the most rewarding part. My family is very important to me. Ive always believed that the books we end up loving the most are those we discover accidentally, in the back of a dusty shelf or in the most unexpected way. Im not interested in being a celebrity, or being talked-about or promoting myself as a brand (which is the most absurd and insulting thing a writer can do, in my opinion). I love to write and love my family and whatever numbers my books sell are entirely due to readers wanting to read them and taking the  time and effort to find them. I don’t believe in marketing, advertising, publicity or promotion. I’d rather have 1.6 million readers (as I currently do, as of end-2012) in 57 countries and 12 languages who have found my 32 books (so far) and come to love them on their own rather than ten times that number through aggressive promotion and marketing. I’m happy with whatever the universe chooses to give me and accept it. I choose to spend all my time doing what I love without compromises or social networking. I actively avoid networking, maintaining connections, socializing, attending lit fests and events. If your books are good, nothing else matters. If the books are crap, then you need social networking desperately. As a great mind once said: “Fame is the last resort of desperate failures.” Those whose work isn’t good enough to speak for itself need to shout the loudest!

  7. How do you strike a balance between the various themes that you write on - mythology, crime thrillers, essays and other forms of writing?

  8. I dont strike a balance. Thats the beauty of it. I serve the storys needs. Ashok Banker is irrelevant. My point of view is irrelevant. I am a non-Hindu of mixed-race, nationality and culture who grew up with zero understanding or exposure to Hindu religion, culture, languages, etc. Yet recently a major Hindu university wished to felicitate me for reviving Hindu mythology through my Ramayana Series! The university dean went to the extent of referring to me as a guru and wanting me to attend their annual event as the Chief Guest to confer the degrees. I refused politely because its awkward to explain that not only am I not a Hindu, I am completely non-religious and dont follow any culture, celebrate any festivals, including my own birthday, and dont subscribe to any belief systems or cultural stereotypes. I dont even vote or have any political interests! So when I write a series or story, I surrender completely to it. I am merely a tool of the story. I serve its needs, adapting my style, my idiom, my vocabulary, my syntax, even the structure of language to suit that particular kind of story and content. Thats why youll find that a novel like Vertigo is completely different from the Ramayana Series, which in turn is different from my Mahabharata Series, or Gods of War, or Blood Red Sari, and so on. The stories all exist in their own right. I am only the means by which they come to the page.  

  9. What inspires you and interests you the most in mythology and why do you feel the need to retell epics?

  10. Oddly enough, I have zero interest in mythology. I dont read it, have never watched mythological serials. As a kid, I used to be the only child in my neighborhood (probably in all India) who went out to play when everybody was home watching Mahabharata or Ramayana. I actively dislike those phony mythological costumes and dialogue and fake style of storytelling. Those are not our epics, please! Theyre just Bollywood corruptions of the original stories. What attracts me powerfully are these incredible records of ancient times, these great powerful tales of another bygone era, written in such lyrical Sanskrit shlokas, describing incredible, rich cultural detail and narratives. If I am able to convey even a fraction of the power and beauty of those ancient Vedic works through my very flawed and mediocre adaptations, I am happy. As I said, its not about me. I dont seek anything except to serve the story and all the joy and pleasure I feel is in achieving that to some small extent.

  11. In your retelling of the epics, the mythological heroes are depicted as ordinary humans doing extraordinary actions. Was it difficult to think beyond the aura that gets ingrained in our minds related to these heroes?

  12. Well, I have the advantage of not being Hindu, not being religious, not having these ideas or perceptions ingrained in my mind from childhood. I read the epics and adapt them as they demand. I have no preconceptions or agenda in mind. Therefore I also don’t have the hang-ups and issues that most Hindus have about their own gods and epics, thankfully! I’m constantly amazed at how Hindus are so vehement in their views about what Rama did or didn’t do, how Krishna behaved, etc, as if these issues are most important than problems in their own lives. But that’s a prerogative they have, since it’s their religion and their god. Not mine. I’m just a storyteller and nowhere in the Ramayana or Mahabharata is there any confusion about such matters. They are just great epics brilliantly narrated by those great ancient minds.

  13. Your Mahabharata series is a long series of 18 books. Do you think the readers' attention can be captured for that long? How did you divide the saga into 18 parts?

  14. Thats the length of the story. It is the worlds largest epic after all. 18 because Vyasas Mahabharata runs into 18 parvas and Im sticking with his excellent structure. I dont know whether or not readers will read the whole series but thats not for me to say or decide, thats up to the readers. My job ends with the writing of the books. As a reader, all I can say is that if a story is good, you never want it to end no matter how long the book or series may be. If the story isnt good, even two pages is too long!

  15. What is planned after the Mahabharata series? Do you plan to retell Bhagwat, Upanishads and Vedas too?

  16. The Krishna Coriolis, based on the Harivamsha and Shrimad Bhagwatham, was begun in 2004 and completed in 2009. I only offer a series for publication when I have finished writing it completely. TEN KINGS is based on a true historical incident described in the Rig Veda. The Upanishads are extracts from the Vedas, not a separate work and are not epics or stories so I am not planning to work on them. My Mahabharata Series is almost complete as I said, the publication comes long after I finish writing, often as much as ten to 12 years later. To know about my other series and books, do visit my ebookstore, akbebooks.com and view the titles there as there are too many to list here.   

  17. What is your take on - why more and more authors are going back to mythology to derive stories from, whether to refine, redefine, retell, to find contemporary relevance or to highlight unique perspectives?

  18. The tradition of brahmins retelling mythological tales is a part of Hindu India. As far as Im aware, all the authors you are referring to are Hindu brahmins, so theyre continuing that religious tradition. My interest lies in non-Hindus and as far as I know, I am the only one working in this field. I would love to read a Muslim Ramayana or a fiercely feminist Mahabharata or a Mahaharata retold from a caste point of view. I think we need to address these glaring injustices and imbalances in our itihasa and only non-brahmin and non-Hindu writers, especially women writers, can do justice to them. The brahmin Hindu retellings are good for brahmin Hindus to read but I would want a more modern and open-minded retelling.

  19. What all research do you do before starting to pen down your stories?

  20. I dont believe in researching a specific book for a few months. I believe in devoting ones entire life to studying that body of literature, mythology, itihasa, history. The process of research is lifelong and continuous. I dont stop researching just because a book is finished. Research can only give you information and at best, knowledge. Good storytelling comes from having read or noticed something 30 years ago and finally understanding a connection today. Research is for newspaper articles that end up in the trash. Retelling mythology requires a lifestyle change and a completely new way of thinking and living.
    Thank you for your questions. Thank you for reading.

    Ashok Kumar Banker
    10 December 2012


Thursday, December 6, 2012

Book Review : Siddhartha

Title : Siddhartha
Author : Herman Hesse
Publisher : Bantam Book

 "The true profession of man is to find his way to himself"
Siddhartha is the story of every thinking individual as one maneuvers through the paths of life while trying to work on the conflicts that the three essential elements of a being pose - mind, body and soul.  I consider such books small little pauses in the otherwise madly running lives in current times. They goad an individual to stop, think, introspect and examine which one of the three - mind, body or soul is dominating the self at any given point of time.

Siddhartha, as a boy got enchanted by the thoughts of gods and sacrifices, as a young adult left his home in order to conquer his mind and body to live as an ascetic, as a man got immersed in fulfilling the pleasures of senses and becoming their slave, and later left everything that was dear to him to embark on a fresh journey to find peace and Atman. His life came a full circle starting from a boy to a man and then back to being a child again. The boy who was boastful of three incredible arts - fasting, waiting and thinking, saw the same abandoning him one by one. He ended up exchanging the skills that he had acquired during the diligent years of youth, for the transitory things which usually obsess an ordinary man. Eventually he had to get in touch with his inner self in order to attain the divine peace.

As  he progressed in his journey of life, his personality changed, his needs changed and accordingly his teachers changed and in the end he learns the essence of life from outwardly mute river. Sitting silently by the river, watching its continuous flow, Siddhartha learns the timeliness of a being, unity of things and the art of listening to that one sound - the Om sound - which has the power of submerging every diverse sound in its folds.  "Learned from river to listen, to listen with still heart, with a waiting, open soul, without passion, without desire, without judgment, without opinions. "

A very thought provoking story but then it does make you believe that things happen when they have to happen and when the time is ripe for the same to happen. Perhaps this was the reason that even after meeting Buddha and getting impressed with his demeanor and his teachings, Siddhartha felt the need to leave that place as he believed that a teacher can simply impart knowledge but cannot make the disciples share the wisdom that experience only brings. "Wisdom is not communicable. Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, be fortified by it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it."

Siddhartha's words while he decided to leave Buddha to embark on his pursuit alone - "Buddha you have reached the highest goal which so many thousands of Brahmins and Brahmins' sons are striving to reach. You have done so by your own seeking, in your own way, through thought, through meditation, through knowledge, through enlightenment. You have learned nothing through teachings. Nobody finds salvation through teachings. To nobody, can you communicate in words and teachings what happened to you in the hour of your enlightenment. The teachings of the enlightened Buddha embrace much, they teach much - how to live righteously, how to avoid evil. But there is one things that this clear, worthy instruction does not contain, it does not contain the secret of what the Illustrious One himself experienced. "

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Apps Have a Story to Tell





Ongoing times are often being referred to as the dawn of tablet era. Mobile/handheld devices do have the charm and wow factor associated with them whether in terms of their sleek bodies, light weight or the assistance they offer to users through state-of-the-art mobile applications. Mobile world is marching rapidly and is influencing more and more areas with its Midas touch. Books and education could not remain unaffected either.

Mobile (App)lication is a software application designed for a particular purpose to run on smart phones, tablets and other mobile devices. Depending on the device that one possesses, apps can be procured from relevant app stores - Apple's App Store, Android store, Windows Phone Marketplace and many other providers.

Since the advent of printing press, not much has changed in terms of traditional books that still adorn the book shelves in our homes. But digital publishing has been a major breakthrough in extending the reach of literature far and wide. Books metamorphosed into eBooks and the written matter danced digitally on screens of computers, laptops and on some specifically designed eReaders. But this was not it. A significant step jump happened with the advent of mobile applications and the books got re-imagined and re-created as Book Apps riding high on the capabilities of smart devices. With this, the content which was lying in one format embedded deep in the pages has now become mobile and portable.

Book apps offer many features ranging from hearing the text narrated in language of your choice, relevant audio and video clips appended with the text, to sound tracks and appropriate sound effects accentuating the impact of the story.

Interestingly, book apps are revolutionizing the children book space like never before by providing features which are hard to replicate on a print version -
  • Record your own voice with the text and be a narrator yourself
  • Hear the difficult words spell out with their meanings
  • Personalise the book by adding character names of your own choice
  • Get involved in plot creation by giving your inputs as the story progresses
  • Re-paint the pictures to give a personal touch to illustrations
  • Interact through illustrations in the story
The bottom line is to provide more richer and fuller reading experience.

Book apps have not just reached various places, they aim to influence all segments of society too. Though hard to believe, book apps have also been designed for babies as young as three months old, which claim to strengthen children's hearing, visual and motor skills. I wonder if somebody would soon come up with an app for - yet to be born babies idling away their time in mother's wombs, for some more skill boosting. 'Catch them young', is anyway the mantra these days. Why, we all are aware of Abhimanyu's (Mahabharata) case, aren't we?

Here is a market which is still in its infancy and is up for grabs by whosoever shows intelligence, wisdom, creativity and foresightedness to tap it in the right manner at the right time. Writers, publishers, App developers, app vendors, platform owners and device manufacturers, there are roles for each one of them.

Book apps have given a new lease of life to many authors who find it hard to get a nod from the publishers. They now have an option to convert their manuscripts to book apps using software made available by many companies.

Perhaps this rejuvenation of books has come at the right time as we see lesser and lesser book stores stocking classics and old books these days. Now for lovers of classics, these books are reaching their homes and most of them are completely free.

 Some of the Indian players who are earning recognition in digital content publishing arena are fliplog, NineApp, MeMeTales and Naavica systems. Some have joined hands with Indian publishers like Pratham and Tulika to bring out the Indian content on devices. Lack of resources and limited finances always pose extra challenge in Indian scenario as attempts are made to create jazzed up apps which can compete internationally in professional way. Supporting multilingual digital content is a wide area of scope in itself but finding portals for such content is another challenge.

Apple, Android, Windows and Blackberry are major platform providers for book apps, however the former two are dominating the market at this stage. There is no dearth of devices available to host Book Apps. Apple devices such as  iPod touch, iPad and iPhone can run apps written in Apple iOS, Google's Android apps are supported by many including Kindle and Samsung devices and Windows apps find their host in HTC devices and in some Samsung devices. And almost all of these have their presence in Indian market, including Kindle.  Kindle which was initially an eReader has gone through various phases of evolution and now is a safe platform which works as a reader as well as hosts book apps. Using free Kindle app, a user gets the functionality to download kindle compliant books from Amazon. The print versions which could not be delivered in India through Amazon have found another route to reach Indian readers. All platforms host some free book apps as well which mainly work as crowd pullers for subsequent sale.  Moreover, under Project Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org/), more than 40,000 free eBooks are available which can be displayed on any of the devices.

Each of the platforms for mobile applications has an integrated development environment (IDE), to write, test and deploy applications into the target environment. It’s a boon for developers as they can create an app from the confines of a cubicle and have it deployed on the app stores.

While some apps are designed for specific platforms, many come with cross-platform compatibility. Eventually the aim is to arrive at a situation where a user downloads a book app with specific functionality and then keeps reading the content(books) riding on those base features. For instance a person who is interested in reading books with dictionary support should be able to have an app which offers this much only. While for another who wants interactivity, voice, video with the books should be able to get that app even though the content is same in both the cases. Keeping this in mind, work is underway at three levels - to make book app platforms intelligent and customizable suiting the needs of users, standardizing the content format for easy portability across various platforms and having code compatibility for multiple platforms.

Book Apps have arrived and they are here to stay. What better way to express the transition from traditional books to apps than in Manish Verma's (Project Director, Fidelity Information Services, ASEAN) words, "Books have died but long live the books".


Oceanhouse Media, Inc. is a leading publisher of more than 250 apps for the mobile market. Apps are available for iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch), Android, NOOK Tablets, Kindle Fire and HP TouchPad devices. The companys mantra is Creativity with Purpose, developing apps that uplift, educate and inspire. 


Q&A session with Michel Kripalani, President of Oceanhouse Media, Inc. which is a leading developer and publisher of apps for the mobile market.

1) What is the reason for success of mobile book apps over the regular books?

There are several reasons. More and more people are using their smartphones and tablets for reading and entertainment. Digital books apps are typically priced below their print counterparts. Readers can also have their entire library with them when they’re away from home. For children, interactive features such as word highlighting and tappable words help build reading skills.

2) What are the objectives of (Oceanhouse Media) Om books through these apps?

Our company’s mantra is creativity with purpose. We focus on developing apps that uplift, educate and inspire. Oceanhouse Media digital books (omBooks) stay true to the original content of the author, while providing enhanced features that help promote reading in children. We add features, such as professional narration and background audio, that make story time educational and engaging for young readers.

3) What are the challenges in this field?

With more than 650,000 apps on the App Store alone, it’s challenging to stand out in this marketplace. The competition is enormous and will only continue to increase as consumer demands move from traditional desktop to mobile devices.

Oceanhouse Media has been fortunate in that our apps continue to be at the top of the charts. Our omBooks from popular authors such as Dr. Seuss, the Berenstains and Mercer Mayer have found a home on the app market and consumers are enjoying these favorite childhood stories on their mobile devices.

4) What is the future for the mobile book apps?

There’s an increase in the use of digital books in classrooms around the world and soon I believe they’ll be incorporated into the standard curriculum. I’ve already seen elementary-age students using our omBooks on tablets in their classes. This will only increase as more schools gain access to mobile devices.


Q&A session with Rashmi Sachan of Fliplog, which is providing a digital content publishing platform to create cloud-ready native apps for various available devices.

1)  What is the scope of book apps in India and what is the scope of Indian book apps?

Indian e-Book market is at it's early stage. Pretty much all the publishers we have talked to have placed ebook and digital migration as their top most priority. In some cases it's a survival issue. Most new publishers are starting with e-versions and apps/games based on the books characters and story line. We can expect plenty of growth in the future.

2) What are specific challenges of Indian marker?

Indian market is unique as it is uniquely placed on both consumption and supply side. We are starting from low per capita book consumption so there is a huge possibility in growing reader base. Technologically, we can leapfrog and leverage tablet and digital distribution to solve access problem.

3) How well are Indian apps accepted worldwide?

Digital apps have a global reach. There is a lot of scope for quality apps appealing to the global audiences. 

4) What is the gap between our market and the international market, if there is any?

There is a wide gap between our market and international market. Historically we have been big buyer of books. With overall economy growing and lower pricing of digital books, we expect things to change and eventually the gap should narrow on the digital platform.

More about Fliplog on our website - http://www.fliplog.com 

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