{"id":11509,"date":"2026-03-24T09:18:29","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T09:18:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.crisscrosssolutions.in\/Vitasta\/?p=11509"},"modified":"2026-03-24T09:20:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T09:20:20","slug":"books-that-history-wont-forget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.crisscrosssolutions.in\/Vitasta\/2026\/03\/24\/books-that-history-wont-forget\/","title":{"rendered":"Books that History Won\u2019t Forget"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In about a week, I will complete a year as a fulltime editor in book publishing. My earlier assignments in publishing were for freelance work, especially spiritual books, considering my nearly decade-long editorial job with The Speaking Tree<\/em>. I’ve had a life-long tenure in journalism mostly with The Times of India<\/em> as an editor, although I did meander into elearning at Genpact for 10 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The urge for correcting copy runs through my veins, and before I take in the sense of a line, my mind races overtime looking for spelling errors, space errors, grammar and punctuation errors, all at the same time. When you work in the newspaper industry, you work on high alert, for often that one reading is the only time one ever gets to read a copy. At the same time, editorial staff in a newspaper chops, rewrites, give copies a spin, often completely changing the look and feel of a copy as we run our eyes\u2014and hands\u2014over it. Veritably, we do as we think best, keeping the publication’s typical reader in mind, churning out clever intros and headlines to make the copy readable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most authors and writers love our treatment of their work. I, for one, had never really heard a protest from any of the writers whose copy I worked on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alas, the publishing world is a trifle different\u2014in more ways than one. While we still chop, rewrite and re-present, we do everything in track change mode and all of our edited copy goes to the writer who then accepts, rejects corrections or clarifies wherever the editor leaves a query in a comment box. Sometimes, I firmly tell authors\u2014that I am only chopping the flab and you won’t even know what I have edited out, all in a bid to make copy flow and read better. Most of the time, authors call to thank us for a job well done and if or when in Delhi, arrive in the office with a box of kaju katli<\/em> or a box of chocolates to celebrate the publication of their books. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the year that I have been here, Vitasta has produced some fifty books, some hits, some misses and many specialised, nonfiction books that have a more dedicated readership. Notable among the books I worked on were Dr Aruna Kalra’s\u00a0I Want a Boy<\/em>. The doctor has become a celebrity of sorts after the publication of this eye-opener of a book which states that Indians, whether from swanky metros or rural landscapes will still go to absurd, heartbreaking lengths to have a male child.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Then again, Gaz Bisht’s\u00a0British Raj to Amrit Kaal\u00a0that captures the key actions of the past that have led to present-day India<\/em>, and Prodyut K Banerjee’s\u00a0Command of a Warship\u00a0<\/em>stand out.\u00a0<\/em>A reader wrote:\u00a0‘<\/em>If one is looking for a book that plunges into the heart of naval operations and the high-stakes world of counter-piracy, then\u00a0Command of a Warship<\/em>\u00a0delivers on all fronts.’\u00a0
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Brig Ashok Pathak’s\u00a0Unified\u00a0Theatre Command, and\u00a0<\/em>a coffee-table book,\u00a0DeviCraft: Each Stitch Tells Her Story\u00a0<\/em>on Durga Puja worship in West Bengal by Manjira Majumdar and Dr Gurjit Kaur’s\u00a0Run, Dadi Run,<\/em>\u00a0based on a fascinating biographical sketch of centenarian runner, Maan Kaur are other books that entered my ‘favourites list’. I enjoyed working on them and learnt so many things in the editorial process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Some engrossing spiritual books too, came my way\u2014Oswald Pereira’s\u00a0Beyond Autobiography of a Yogi<\/em>\u00a0and Swami Kirtarthananda’s\u00a0Finding Peace and Purpose<\/em>, among them. Soumitra Das’s\u00a0Bombay<\/em>, set in the old Mumbai of the 1970s and G V Subba Rao’s\u00a0The Last Witness<\/em>\u00a0made for great fiction reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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These last few months have been good, but we also tied ourselves in knots over some other authors. One rather enterprising author wanted her manuscript sent to her printed on A4-size sheets in 14-point font and spiral-bound for her to check the editing! “At my age, I can’t see properly,” was her cheerful explanation. In this day and age of technology, it did make us pause \u2014 is this even still a thing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet another author breathed fire and brimstone for his book being 2 mm less in the size specified in his contract. Alas, we learned many a lesson this past year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also worked on the book of a wily politician with a yarn that we fell for, liberally peppered with political masala <\/em>and with endorsements from several well-known politicians of yore. He quoted his computer ‘illiteracy’ as an excuse and arrived in our office one fine day to get some changes done to his copy. He was one of those who thought every word and episode he had described was sacrosanct and not a word could be cut from his manuscript. Cut, of course, we did, trimming his humongous 212,000 words to a more readable 150,000, and if we had had our way, the book would have been better off with another 50,000 words cut. Alas, that was not to be and for the first time, I realised why writers and editors are sometimes, at daggers drawn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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But his book was out on time and peace soon returned to our office. The following week, we were back on track with our publishing routine and you can now look forward to some amazing titles guaranteed to lure you into the magical world of books. Kushagra Singh’s mythological marvel titled\u00a0Hanuman Flies to Ravana’s Lanka<\/em>\u00a0is packed with wisdom as the endearing Monkey God flies off on his mission to free Devi Sita in distant Lanka. We come out of this magical tale far wiser and resilient with the didactic stories that Kushagra spins out of Hanuman’s actions. The author is a yoga teacher who deciphers scriptures for a living. His book is ample proof of that.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Two youngsters in our office, Abhishek Rana and Saumya Chaudhary put their heads together on a great idea that Renu Kaul Verma, Vitasta’s guiding light and Publishing Director introduced them to. The result is an immensely readable book on fundamental rights and duties, a must for all 10-year-olds and above. Growing Up Right! A Child’s Guide to Fundamental Duties<\/em> is a great introduction to children on understanding their civic duties as young citizens of India, in the hope of making India a better place. On a more serious note, the book delves into good touch and bad touch and touches upon other sensitive issues that youngsters stepping into Class 4 and 5 must be aware of such as the POCSO Act. Activities at the end of every chapter dedicated to each fundamental duty makes sure that the message goes home in a fun way. It’s surely a book that teachers can take up in their classrooms to ensure that our youngsters grow up into responsible citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Another eye-opener is Prem Prakash’s book on History that India Ignored<\/em>, a very gripping and readable account of who and what shaped India’s Independence all those years ago. Was it the Congress’s movement, or the sacrifice of scores of freedom fighters, of heroes like Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Bhagat Singh and his Uncle, Ajit Singh, Mangal Pandey, Rash Behari Bose, Aurobindo Ghosh and a host of other long-forgotten names and their compelling sacrifice that won us our freedom? Veteran journalist, Prem Prakash, founder of ANI brings together the various sacrifices and revolts occurring all over the country and strings them together perfectly in his superbly readable account of how India finally was able to drive away the wily British who had entered the country as traders in the guise of the East India Company, and then slowly spread their tentacles all over the country with an army that the Mughal rulers had allowed them to raise to protect their business interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take our word for it. Search for History that India Ignored<\/em> by Prem Prakash and put it into your shopping cart on amazon.in right away.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Just a couple of months ago, we all experienced a proud moment when our intrepid Publishing Director came home with a prestigious award at the seventh India Reading Olympiad Awards at Hyderabad in January. While the Lifetime Achievement Award went to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Vitasta Publishing Private Limited romped home with the Best Indian Publisher award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It proves that the magical world of books is still very much alive. The crowds that lined up to visit the recent Book Fair in Delhi proved that. A steady stream of visitors found their way to Vitasta’s stalls, proving that both fiction and nonfiction still sells in this age of digital content and OTT.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In about a week, I will complete a year as a fulltime editor in book publishing. My earlier assignments in publishing were for freelance work, especially spiritual books, considering my nearly decade-long editorial job with The Speaking Tree. I’ve had a life-long tenure in journalism mostly with The Times of India as an editor, although I did meander […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.crisscrosssolutions.in\/Vitasta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.crisscrosssolutions.in\/Vitasta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.crisscrosssolutions.in\/Vitasta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.crisscrosssolutions.in\/Vitasta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.crisscrosssolutions.in\/Vitasta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11509"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/demo.crisscrosssolutions.in\/Vitasta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11509\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11520,"href":"https:\/\/demo.crisscrosssolutions.in\/Vitasta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11509\/revisions\/11520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.crisscrosssolutions.in\/Vitasta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.crisscrosssolutions.in\/Vitasta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.crisscrosssolutions.in\/Vitasta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}