Potter Mania

Its amazing how much furore a children's book can generate... But I guess with HP, we are speaking of a book which is not ordinary in any sense and has readers spanning generations :-)

Newspapers and magazines were full of nothing else but the hype around the new book and the demand figures and of course the twist in the new book ! (A beloved character's death). Read the book myself over the weekend, decided to take the plunge and buy the book the day it released. Bro laughed his guts out when I told him it costed me around 700/- (after discount ;)). I smirked and said that is probably the cheapest you can get it for right now! O, how deluded I was...

Yesterday's news was buzzing with piracy of the book and how peddlers (young children at that!) were selling it at Mumbai traffic signals for almost 1/4th the price I paid for it!! I am appalled! Partly a feeling of immense stupidity and partly indignition at the fact that Bro was right! Mmmfffpppttt :p

The whole episode made me very uncomfortable and I started wondering why things are the way they are. I remember when I was a kid, we regularly subscribed to Tinkle and dilligently scrounged for ACK's (Amar Chitra Katha for the uninitiated). These were affordable Indian monthlies for children. Mum used to get me new or used Enid Blytons and other Phoeren books on a regular basis (depending on my behavior of course) :-)

Basically, it was acceptable to ask for books to be bought if they were supposedly spectacular or brand new..Zooming to today, I am a little apprehensive of the same statements. Is it Acceptable for parents to be asked to buy books like Harry Potter for 700-800?? That is steep no matter from which angle you look at it! Is that even a price for middle class families to shell out for a story book? I am thinking not!

So, are these books only aimed for children from families who can afford them? I do not understand that.. The main intention for a children's book as well as a so called social responsibility for publishers like Penguin, India, should be to make it in the reach of educated children all over irrespective of their socio-economic background. I wonder whats happening really..

I can well imagine the plight of a parent whose child comes home saying his/her friend has the new Potter book and he/she wants it as well. I can very well imagine the child's face when told that its out of question as its not affordable and maybe a suggestion to borrow it from friends. I totally support borrowing books from friends, sharing books has been a long standing tradition among children but thats really not the point here. The point is that children being children, are beyond concepts like economical disparity. A basic tendency of a child with a new object, whatever it may be, is to flaunt it. For reasons unknown, we all do it when we are kids, or have seen other kids doing it (if you are among the few with some sense not to show off :p)

Don't such books actually promote something like that? I believe so. And its sad, especially when you see that in the end, there is a certain segment of children who will probably not get ride in this wave of the recent Potter Mania.

Having said that, I wonder if Piracy is really such an evil as its made out to be, in cases like these, wouldn't you really be tempted to buy one of the paperbacks just because its within your reach? I see myself tending to that at least, as I am sure did a lot of people who bought over 10k books last 2 days since the pirated version has been out..Brings the eternal question back doesn't it- Whether inflation and piracy are the two sides of the same coin. As long as one exists the other will certainly. In a country like India, unless you make things within the reach of the everyday men/women, there will always be a cheaper/fake version of it as there will always be people venturing to produce these commodities and there will always be a market for the same !..

ps: Please do not interpret this as an endorsement for Piracy, I do not like the phenomenon myself, I am just musing aloud the cause and effect theory involved in it :-)