Videshi works
BAIJ NATH SINGH, English professor, writer and poet, published his first book Mati ke mole (a book on soil conservation) in 1985. He started writing environmental books in Hindi when he was confronted by the dearth of informative and educative books on environment in Hindi. Says Singh,"It is this void that I wanted to fill. I wanted to bring out a book on environment for those who are not familiar with English." However, his first book did not do well in the market. Of a print run of 1,000 copies, only a depressing 50 were sold.
For his 2nd book, Singh had to compromise on language. He translated his book into English on the condition that a Hindi edition was published along with it. "I am disheartened by the fact that efforts to disseminate information to the non-English speaking population have had to face such discouragement," he says.
WILEY EASTERN LIMITED will soon be releasing science writer Jaganmay Mitra's book, HIV speaks: Autobiography of an AIDS virus. This low cost paperback is targeted at the lay reader. With the help of illustrations and lucid descriptions, the AIDS virus tells its own story and how it can be avoided. Mitra is a professor of biology at the National Council of Educational Reserach and Technology and has been a contact person for AIDSED, UNESCO, Bangkok, since 1990.