Saturday, August 01, 2009

Media Coverage



The last few weeks have been a complete blur - school visits, book launches, interviews, Q and A sessions and in between meeting old friends.

The launch of Crickematics in Bangalore was outstanding and meeting another personal hero - Rahul Dravid - was an awesome experience. The stampede in the end was a bit unnerving, but Dravid handled it well.

The launch of The Enemy of My Enemy in Chennai will probably be remembered for the longest Q and A session ever at a book launch. Children and grown-ups alike were rather inquisitive.

The school visits in Bangalore and Pune were entertaining and exhausting and am looking forward to the 15 school visits that have been planned in Chennai over the next one week.

Here are links to some of the articles/ interviews/ coverage of Crickematics and The Enemy of My Enemy:

Interviews in Time Out Mumbai, Deccan Chronicle and Times of India
Coverage of Crickematics on Rediff, The Hindu, Mid Day, Bangalore Mirror and MyBangalore

2 comments:

Chittz said...

Hey,

I'm Chitralekha, and I'm working on an article that focuses on anime culture in India. The article is for my Journalistic Writing course in college.

Since you are into manga and graphic novels, just wanted to know what is your take on the anime/manga market in India? Whether the trend has caught on to India, or it still remains a fringe scene? And how does manga fandom measure against graphic novels following in the country?

Thank you!

Chittz
connect2chitralekha@gmail.com

PS: Congrats the book tour; game books had been a source of endless fascination when I was a kid, thanks for bringing them back.

Anshumani said...

Dear Chitralekha,

I think at the moment the whole anime/ manga phenomenon is still very much part of the fringe scene in India. The number (and variety) of anime shows running on various animation networks and the manga available in the book shops is still limited. The number of truly dedicated fans who follow every latest issue of a manga online or download the latest episode of an anime is still small. But this number is certainly increasing. Also cheaper and faster broadband connections are ensuring that people interested in manga/anime don't have to wait for a new title to come into India through traditional means (TV, book shops).

I think manga and graphic novels are two completely different beasts. The aesthetics and content sensibility behind both is as far apart as Western and Oriental philosophy. And yet, we Indians always seem to be traversing the thin line between the East and the West. Hence the popularity of both manga and graphic novels here. Graphic novels are at the moment slightly more popular. But this is only due to the easier availability of titles. However, I think there is a huge overlap between the readership of the two. Most manga fans are also graphic novel fans. The other way round might not be true. Anyone who is a fan of Full Metal Alchemist or Bleach has also probably read Sandman and worships Alan Moore. It's also an age issue. I think younger children are getting involved with Japanese media a lot faster than older ones.

Hope this helps.

A