DR KUMAR MAHABIR
The smile on the face became
more impish, and the whisper was more conspiratorial. 'Leela,
I write a book.'
She trembled on the brink of belief. 'You lying.'
He produced it with a flourish. 'Look at the book. And look here
at my name, and look here at my picture, and look here at all
these words I write with my own hand. They print now, but you
know I just sit down at the table in the front-room and write
them on ordinary paper with a ordinary pencil.'
'Oh, man! Oh, man! you really write the book.'
'Careful! Don't touch it with your soapy hand.'
'Look, I go run and tell Pa.' She turned and went inside.
- V.S. Naipaul, The Mystic Masseur (1957).
WHAT IS AN ETHNIC PRESS?
"We wish to plead our cause. Too long have others spoken
for us." This statement, written in 1827, was the lead sentence
for an editorial in the first African-American publication, Freedom's
Journal, published in New York City. From that time until the
present, there have been more than 3,000 African-American newspapers,
magazines, and book presses managed by blacks/Africans in the
United States (Anderson 2002). This type of media forms part
of the ethnic press all over the world. In the United States,
minority groups like Blacks, Latinos, Asians and Native Americans
feel that they cannot depend on a local daily newspaper to faithfully
represent them on a consistent basis, unless there is "news"
about a gang killing, a corrupt community leader, or a devastating
fire. They have, therefore, established their own community or
ethnic newspapers (Gonzales 2001). 1
An ethnic press is an organ that serves as a mirror to reflect
the popular opinion, aspiration, culture and lifestyle evident
in communities of color. An ethnic press needs a literate constituency
with common interests for its emergence and survival. It owes
its existence primarily to the desire for self-expression of
a community that feels oppressed or marginalized (Martin 1998).
An ethnic press is usually produced particularly for people of
colour. It is staffed mainly by people of one ethnic group, and
the issues/topics covered are generally of interest to that group.
An ethnic press builds community strength and unity by providing
facts that enable viewers, listeners, and readers to make informed
decisions.
Radio stations like Power 102 FM and I95.5 FM in Trinidad can
be classified as part of the Afro-Creole ethnic media establishment.
Their talk show hosts (like the Ricardo "Gladiator"
Welsh on Power 102 FM) speak with vigour, and far too often with
a violence, that have startled Indians who are perceived as enemies.
They use little or no restraint in declaring that all Indians
should tow the line of Afro-Creole ideologues, discard their
traditional culture, and marry people of African descent. In
recent years, there has been a proliferation of Indian music
radio stations in the country with the newest (6th ) to be launched
in the next few weeks by the name of Nagin.2 They are all trying
to strike and bite the same ethnic niche market. The advent of
talk shows on these radio stations has revolutionized the means
of Indian public expression in the country. The call-in segments
clearly respond to the needs of their listeners and serve as
a voice dedicated to the welfare of the community. The shows
emerged as a direct correlation to the discriminatory experiences
felt by the Indian community under a new urban-centered Afro-Creole
political regime. They offer solace and solidarity to a people
in political despair, and give recognition to those who are excluded
from the corridors of power. In response to Afro-Creole talk
show hosts, Indian call-in moderators (like Sadro Mohammed on
90.5FM) demonstrate that they will not be cowed into silence
and submission by militant voices.
The country's only Indian non-entertainment newspaper today is
the Probe, which is a published by the Hindu Credit Union (HCU)
Communications Network in central Trinidad. But the Probe is
more like another weekly tabloid than a truly ethnic newspaper.
It was expected that the objective of the paper would be to foster
the spirit of the Hindu community. In all parts of the world,
ethnic newspapers serve an important role in the communities
they cover. They crusade against social injustices, and stimulate
a sense of cultural pride in a people. Indeed, they articulate
the very spirit of their community. During Indian Arrival Day
for example, the Probe produced a supplement/pullout rather than
integrate/spread its stories throughout the paper as was done
by the Newsday daily. A supplement in an ethnic paper like the
Probe, or in any newspaper for that matter, suggests that the
event being covered is separate and apart from the mainstream
turn of national news. It was expected that the Probe would have
served as a strong protest forum and be vigorously out-spoken
on issues affecting the Hindu/Indian community. The black press
in United States seeks to contest the negative portrayal of African-Americans
in the mainstream media, and it attempts to present stories of
black achievement in all fields (Anderson 2002; Wolseley 1971).
In this context, the Masala World entertainment weekly newspaper,
produced by the same HCU, is a superb product. It reports on
positive news about Indian artistes, and on people, issues and
events not (normally) covered elsewhere. Predecessors of the
Probe, like the Bomb, Blast and TnT Mirror are owned by Indians
but are controlled by non-Indian interests.
THE PRESS IN THE PAST:
In almost every community in the world, newspapers form the largest
share of the ethnic press. In United States, for example, the
black newspapers comprised the bulk of African-American press
for more than 130 years. They were first driven by the mission
to emancipate slaves from bondage, and later to improve the plight
of African-Americans through acceptance and equality. Anderson
(2002) writes:
Not only did the press serve as a protest organ, but also documented
normal black life, especially as it existed under segregation
and Jim Crow laws. In many cases, these papers provide the only
extant record of African-American life in forgotten and remote
towns
When the black newspapers emerged in United States, the initial
reaction of non-blacks was usually one of alarm and hostility,
most notably in the South. Hostile or favourable, the response
indicated that the black press was recognized as a distinct element
of influence and power in the black community (Martin 1998).
3
Major studies (e.g. Ali 2000; Rampersad 2002; Tikasingh 1975)
have been done recently on both mainstream and ethnic newspapers
in Trinidad. The studies reveal that these publications sought
to expose the inveterate prejudice against Hindu and Indians
and challenge the status quo in the multi-ethnic and class-structured
society. Like the black publications in the United States (Wolseley
1971), the Indian press was founded for the purpose of serving,
publicizing, speaking, and fighting for the colored minority.
It was found that the mainstream press was concerned mainly with
the problems and lifestyles of non-Indians. The Indian press
was designed to serve as a weapon to fight discrimination and
racism in all its forms. The publications highlighted the views
of Indians who were candid and vociferous in their demands as
colonials against British imperialism.
Ethnic newspapers carry stories about problems and initiatives,
artists and writers, and events and celebrations in the community.
As a people who came and worked as semi-slaves in the sugarcane
plantations during Indentureship (1838-1917), Indians have a
literary tradition that is unique to the Caribbean (Rampersad
2002). They were not "illiterate" as is often said
because they had competency in reading and writing their own
languages, and were knowledgable about their own classical ancient
works of literature the Vedas, Ramayana, Mahabharata and
Bhagvat Puranas. Since the indentureship period in Trinidad,
they have established their own newspapers like The Indian Koh-i-noor
Gazette (1898-9), The East Indian Herald (1919-21, 1922, 1924),
The East Indian Patriot (1921-5), The East Indian Weekly (1928-32),
The West Indian Magnet (1932), The East Indian Advocate (1934),
The Indian (1937), The Minerva Review (1941-43), The Indian Centenary
Review (1945), The Observer (1941-58), and The Spectator (1948-65).
These newspapers offered an alternative, and often opposing view,
to opinions and decisions established by the ruling white elite.
The ethnic newspapers, for example, took to task the dominant
notion held/published in the Port of Spain Gazette at the time,
that the growing number of indentured labourers could be a threat
to public order and affect a change in the demography of the
colony. 4
Newspapers that are peddled as being "national," often
represent the interests and views of a small but dominant group
in plural societies like Trinidad and Tobago (Partap 1995). In
The Indian Spectre or Crisis in the Media, Kamal Persad (1996)
examines the contents of the current daily newspapers to find
that their coverage did/do not proportionately "reflect
the multi-racial and multi-cultural society" of the rainbow
country. He discloses that the real reason why he was relieved
of his column in the Express in 1995 was that the editor wanted
him to write from a different perspective: "He wanted me
to be a Creole and not myself, not Indian-Trinidadian."
Based on his analysis, Persad calls for the establishment of
an Indian Press that would present the perspectives of Indians
in a "clear and uncompromising" manner. Persad (1996:7)
argues:
One must recognize what is the national press a Creole
vehicle to maintain, protect and defend their order of things,
their sacred 'calypso land,' their view of what is national.
The media men and women are simply not prepared to tolerate alternative
views and perspectives.
The first volume of essays by and/or on Indians in the Caribbean
is the Centenary Celebration of the Arrival of Indians to British
Guiana published in 1938. It was produced and published by The
British Guiana East Indian Association (BGEIA) to mark the hundred
years of Indian presence in the colony which culminated in a
centenary celebration. It was a special collection of speeches
for the celebration, and the contributors were regular writers
for Indian Opinion, the official organ of the BGEIA. The publishing
initiative in Guiana/Guyana was duplicated in 1945 in Trinidad
with the release of the Indian Centenary Review. This was Trinidad
Indians' first collective collected volume. It was printed by
the Guardian newspapers in hard cover, and edited by M.J. Kirpalani
and others. It was a 200-page volume with graphics and photographs,
and priced at $2.00. One reviewer (cited in Ali 2000) wrote:
Indeed, given the wartime shortages in stationery, the production,
quality and organization of the review itself was a visual and
literary testament to the intellectual capacity of the Indian,
and therefore came to be regarded as an vindication of the Indian
community.
The commemorative collection of essays, greetings and speeches
mapped the existence/achievements of Indians in the colony during
their first one hundred years.
Joseph Ruhomon is the first Indian intellectual, and the first
published Indian intellectual, in the Caribbean. He self-published
a pamphlet entitled India: The Progress of Her People at Home
and Abroad, and How Those in British Guiana May Improve Themselves
in British Guiana (Guyana) in 1894. At the young age of twenty-one,
he undertook an intellectual scrutiny of the Indians condition
in the colony under Indentureship (1938-1917). Historian Clem
Seecharan (2001) wrote:
Nothing like this had ever been done by an Indian in the region.
And, in an age when the "coolie" shadow quickly clouded
vision and self-deprecation was an instinct, the construction
of this essay was an admirable accomplishment.
Seecharan argues that the monograph "belongs to the Caribbean
intellectual tradition," and it is "an achievement
of all the people." It must be noted that Ruhomon followed
in the footsteps of Bechu, a prolific letter-writer to the newspapers.
He was a little indentured immigrant labourer in British Guiana/Guyana
who took on the entire imperial empire in the 1890s (Seecharan
1999).
Seepersad Naipaul was the first Indo-Trinidadian to self-publish
an individual literary work, Gurudeva and other Indian Tales,
in 1943. The booklet was some seventy pages long and printed
by the Guadian Commercial Printery for Trinidad Publications
of 17 Luis Street, Port of Spain. This was the residence of Seepersad
Naipaul's brother-in-law, Simbhoonath Capildeo. Seepersad Naipaul
brought the proofs home bit by bit in his jacket pocket. Having
emphasized with his father in the act of writing, V.S. Naipaul
now "shared his hysteria" of the error of the linotypists,
who, "falling into everyday ways, set the stories in narrow
newspaper-style columns. The publication was nevertheless a success.
A thousand copies were printed and sold for a dollar, four shillings
high for Trinidad at that time. How the copies were promoted
and sold, V.S. Naipaul does not say.
The idea of Indian writing and publishing a book had long been
planted in the creative imagination of one of the characters
of the novel The Mystic Masseur (1957) by the Caribbean Indian
Nobel Prize winner for Literature, V.S. Naipaul. In the novel,
Ganesh Ramsumair had self-published his autobiography The Years
of Guilt (Ganesh Publishing Co. Ltd., Port of Spain $2.40). But
the fictitious character's first publication was A Hundred and
One Questions and Answers on the Hindu Religion.5 The excitement
of seeing a book in print for the first time is described in
the novel. First, Naipaul (1957:79-80) captures the feelings
of the author's wife:
Leela fell silent in pure wonder. For however much she complained
and however much she reviled him, she never ceased to marvel
at this husband of hers who read pages of print, chapter of print,
why, whole big books; this husband, awake in bed at nights, spoke,
as though it were nothing, of one day writing a book of his own
and having it printed!
Naipaul (1957:94-95) also writes about the jubilance of author's
father-in-law:
Ramlogan was passing his fat hairy hands over the cover, and
he smiled until his cheeks almost covered his eyes. 'The book
smooth smooth,' he said. 'Look, Leela, feel how smooth it is.
And the print on the cover, man. It look as if, sahib, is really
part of the paper. Oh, sahib, you make me really proud today.
Remember, Leela, was just last Christmas I was telling you and
Soomintra that Ganesh was the radical in the family. Is my opinion
that every family should have a radical in it.'
The achievement of publishing a book was announced to all like
a mantra: "We have a author in the family, man, girl. Girl,
we have a author in the family, man.' Later, discussions take
place about promoting the book through "handbills"
and advertising it in the Sentinel newspaper "[w]ith a coupon
to full up and cut out and send." The books were placed
for sale in grocery shops at 48 cents a copy on consignment.
The fictitious author himself tried to promote the book by walking
about the city "with the book in his shirt jack pocket so
that anyone could see the title." But these innovative promotional
efforts did not help. The book on Hinduism just did not sell
perhaps because Ganesh was a masseur and not a pandit selling
his book to his devotees. 6
Perhaps the first attempt to establish an Indian book press in
the contemporary Caribbean was undertaken by Kamal Persad in
Trinidad. Founded in 1981 before Peepal Tree Press (1985) by
Dr Jeremy Poynting in England, The Indian Review published an
impressive 4,000 copies of a journal with poems (one by now-Dr
Cyril Paltoo), a short story by Vishnu Gosine, an extract by
a 1915-article by Herbert C. De Lister, and an essay by now-Trinidad's
respected economist, Dr Dhanishwar Mahabir. The journal was distributed
free of charge by person and mail, mainly by Persad himself,
who funded the publication from his pocket as a school teacher.
The Indian Review developed from publishing a stapled one-colour
14-page journal to a 144-page firm-cover book on Trinidad's Indian
civil rights fighter, H.P. Singh (1993). The Indian Review's
initial publishing initiative was duplicated by Kamta Karran
in Guyana in 1987. Under the Offerings imprint, Karran published
fiction, poetry and academic essays by writers other than its
founder/editor. Using extremely scarce and primitive resources
in poverty-stricken Guyana, the publications were done on a typewriter,
stenciled on an office machine, collated by hand, and stapled
on the spine. Both The Indian Review and Offerings presses have
run silent and their publications are barely visible in the bookshops
today.
THE ROLE OF AN ETHNIC PRESS:
Ethnic books are marketed and sold mainly in the community for
which (and about which) they have been written. In Trinidad,
Chakra sells its books at Indians bazaars, conferences, workshops,
yagnas [congregations] and other mass gatherings. It is this
accessibility that gives ethnic books a richer sense of worth.
For the publisher and many of its writers, it is dedication to
the service of the community that is reciprocated in sales (even
for the sake of patronage). Peepal Tree Books in England is also
an ethnic press that specializes in the publication of Black
British and South Asian writing in the Diaspora. It publishes
fiction and poetry, and is developing a wider range of academic
and non-fiction titles.
Books by an ethnic publishing house present a different perspective
often absent in the mainstream press. One example is the book
by Trevor Sudama entitled The Political Uses of Myth or Discrimination
Rationalized (1993). The book is a collection of articles which
cover a wide range of subjects. It is really intended to provide
a different perspective on critical political issues at the time
(1990-1991). Some of the articles are polemical in nature and
somewhat acerbic in style. The main theme pursued is the unequal
treatment to which Indians have been subjected by the state in
Trinidad and Tobago, and the rationalization of discriminatory
practices against them. The collection addresses questions of
race relations, distributive justice, economic dominance, national
integration, cultural expressions and plural societies.
The Hispanic community in the United States often has different
cultural values from those of mainstream America, and the Hispanic
press not only reports on issues of interest to that community,
but also carries stories on events in the immigrants' countries
of origin. It often goes so far as to serve as community advocates,
with editors and reporters presenting a blatant political viewpoint
(Paul 2001)
There are many advantages of being a self-publisher. Trade publishers
sometimes hold manuscripts for as long as ten years before they
make a decision. Peepal Tree Press in England, for example, has
been holding an accepted typescript by Kumar Mahabir for over
fifteen years. There is also the claim by some minority writers
that some trade publishers do not want to deal with serious racial
and ethnic issues (see Murray 2000). When a writer self-publishes,
he becomes captain of his own ship; he takes control of every
step of his own work by deciding its design and destiny. Authors
have to buy their own books to give to friends and reviewers,
and large publishers sometimes do not reprint books on time when
they are out of stock.7 Reporting on the American publishing
industry and the advantages of self-publishing John Tessitore
(1996) writes:
Ultimately, self-publishing is a high-stakes game. Books often
fail, but successful writers can actually make more money from
a self-published book than they could through a big publishing
company.
The stories of many school textbook writers in Trinidad like
Sona Nagessar (alias Sonia Norville) and Roy Narinesingh (1992)
can attest to this claim. Other non-textbook self-publishing
authors like Shamoon Mohanned (1982) and Siddhartha L. Orie (1997)
have been equally successful.
One may also argue that these self-publishing authors are committed
to supporting reading and literacy initiatives, and that they
are doing their best to promote and sustain a reading habit among
Caribbean peoples. At the same time, they are educating their
readers about a much-neglected aspect of their history and culture.
For most writers, the acceptance of their work by an established
press brings prestige. If a writer turns to self-publishing,
it does not necessarily mean that he has been turned down by
an established press. For some unknown authors and poets especially,
using the mainstream publishing houses is not a viable option.
For them, just seeing their work in print is a lifelong ambition.
One example is Satnarayan Jaggernauth who self-published 500
copies of his 116-page book Indians in Sports (2002). He is a
retired civil servant who gave all his books as gifts to friends,
libraries and interested individuals. His reward lay in the satisfaction
that he had accomplished the status of being a published writer.
For him, and others like poet Hansar Ramsamooj (1985), their
publication was a labour of love, not a business investment for
profit.
An overwhelming majority of the self-published writers under
review do not have the knowledge or skill of book production
and promotion, and they are not willing to invest in professional
assistance. The intellectual and commercial quality of a book
like Bhadase Sagan Maharaj (2001), for example, would have been
vastly improved had it been edited, designed and formatted by
professionals in the book industry. Even wealthy professionals
in other fields who self-publish are reluctant to commission
experts in the industry. Expert copy-editors, designers, illustrators
and proofreaders would have contributed to a better quality product
for self-publishers like Jerome Boodhoo (1992) Balgobin Ramdeen
(2002). For reasons that have to do with resources, many books
by Guyanese self-publishers (e.g. Prasad 1976) display problems
with legibility of the print, originality of illustrations, and
preparation of headings, layouts, and makeup. Most self-published
writers in the Caribbean are unaware of the operations and strategies
of the book-producing and bookselling business. Very few of them
belong to professional organizations like the Book Industry of
Association of Trinidad and Tobago (BIATT), or Caribbean Publishers
Network (CAPNET) which provides promotional and marketing support.
Basic publishing procedures like copyrighting their work through
the Ministry of Legal Affairs is ignored, as are securing an
ISBN number and a bar code. Often the date of publication is
not printed in the book.
All self-published writers sell their own books because they
believe that selling their book is just as noble as writing it.
This entrepreneurial spirit of preparing to devote the necessary
time and effort is certainly important. Patricia Wynn, a U.S.
writer who published her works through trade publishers before
starting her own business said: "Self-publishing is as much
about business as it is about writing. It can be a very lucrative
venture, but success requires hard work, confidence and luck"
(DuHadaway 2001). The success of a book depends on the author's
ability to interact with book retailers, the press, and most
importantly, the book-buying public. Indian writers who self-publish,
retail their books through consignments with puja [religious]
shops and bookstores. Only a few self-publishers like Kenneth
Parmasad sell through book wholesalers like Lexicon. Since self-published
writers sell their own books, their books tend to disappear from
the market when they die, with no hope of a reprint or re-circulation.
Examples of books that have become rare collectors' items are
Self Expression (1985) by Dr. Mahabir Maharajh and International
Conspiracy Against Indians (1975), and Negro Racism vs Indians
of Guyana, Trinidad and Suriname (1977) by Nageshwar A. Maharaj.
Marketing is an unknown challenge for most writers. They lack
the sophistication of modern advertising and promotional techniques.
Most of them do not arrange to display their new books at the
local library, or give review copies to the local newspaper.
Most do not organize signings or present their works at literary
events. Ground-breaking books by Harry Ramnath's India Came West
(1982), The Unwritten Laws of Hinduism (1985), and The Other
Side of the Bible (1985), for example, have never been launched
and are, therefore, hardly known by the reading public. To successfully
capture a market, the author/bookseller has to do the required
legwork and research. Like any book produced by established publishing
houses, self-published books get reviews in reputable publications
and are acquired by university libraries.
PRESSING FORWARD:
Currently, there is convenient access to computers at the writers'
fingertips, and the advent of new technology like internet e-publishing
and desktop publishing programs. Self-publishing has now become
more author-accessible and cost-effective, and an easy way to
get works in print. Poor people with writing talent have broken
the domain and monopoly of printing and publishing professionals.
Web publishing ventures are being undertaken by Indian cultural
organisations through their websites rather than by individuals
who write fiction and/or non-fiction. There are more websites
by Guyanese Indian organizations than by Trinidadian Indian groups.8
A popular website by the Jahaji Association for Indian Advancement
in Guyana (JAIAG) (http://www.jaiag.com/) publishes scholarly
articles on social injustices suffered by Indians in Guyana.
Others (e.g. http://www.guyanaundersiege.com and http://www.dreamwater.org
graphically publicises criminal attacks and human rights abuses
in the same multi-ethnic country.
Nearly all the Indian ethnic presses in Trinidad and Guyana are
small and they publish books only by one self-publishing author.
Examples are Siddhartha Publications publishing books only by
Siddhartha L. Orie (1997) and Sankh Productions producing books
only by Kenneth Parmasad (1984) in Trinidad; and Shraadanjali
Publications only by Laxhmie K.V. Kallicharan (1992) in Guyana.
The releases from these presses are irregular, few and small
in quantity.
Popular pandits, pastors and imams [priests] have been the most
successful booksellers of their own publications simply because
they hold a captive audience among their followers. The recently-released
title by Munelal Maharaj et al. (2003) on Hindu funerary rites
and observances has been a resounding success just a few months
after its publication. The self-publishing pandits/authors are
already doing a second reprint of two thousand copies which they
market to the Indo-Trinidadian Hindu Diaspora in North American
and England. Pandits who are presenters of religious programs
on radio are also successful writers/booksellers.
When all is said and done, there is no question that tremendous
power lies in the hands of publishers of ethnic newspapers -
the power of ideas, thought and action. Ethnic publishers, like
Chakra, are conscious of their role as both a commercial and
a cultural enterprise. In the Caribbean, they provide the vital
service of increasing and deepening the knowledge-base of the
region, as well as transmitting information about a minority
ethnic group to the global community. Some writers produce valuable
books themselves that were initially not seen as commercial enough
by the mainstream publishers.
Chakra started as a self-publishing initiative by Kumar Mahabir
in 1990,9 joined later by Samaroo Siewah (1991), and flourished
into a cottage industry in its own right.10 This wholly independent
company, as a vanity press, has a registered office with a full-time
staff open to the public Monday to Friday. Chakra has among its
titles, the works of three scholars: (1) The Origins and Development
of Racial Ideology in Trinidad: The Black View of the East Indian
(1995) by Dr. Dennison Moore, (2) Basdeo Panday: A Political
Biography by Professor John Gaffar La Guerre (2000), and Centenary
Celebration of the Arrival of Indians to British Guiana (2001)
by Dr. Baytoram Ramharack. Moore is a Trinidadian based in Canada,
La Guerre is a Trinidadian resident in Trinidad, and Ramharack
is a Guyanese who lives in United States. Sandra Sookdeo (1994)
in one female writer who has published with Chakra, and is reprinting
her book on Indian dance this year (2003).
Chakra's publishing success has shown that an Indian market exists
in Trinidad and the Indo-Trinidadian Diaspora. It is a loyal
market that has been starved for a long time for low-priced books
of relevance to the community. But it is still to publish books
of poetry and fiction under its imprint, and children's book
as is being done by Ashoka Publications. Translation of some
of its best-selling titles in other languages to penetrate new
markets in India and Latin America is on its long-term agenda.
Chakra fulfills the need of those who want to read about race
relations and ethnicity by writers who focus on a minority group
in the Caribbean. The product is a series of culturally relevant
texts, reasonably priced, innovatively marketed, and well distributed.
The books are sold through their website on the Internet (http://www.geocities.com/chakrapub/index.html),
in West Indian/Caribbean bookshops at home and abroad, and in
their mobile booth at religious, social and academic functions.
They sell books where people will buy books. The circulation
of some of its thirteen (13) titles number more than 20,000 copies
each, which reaches individuals, colleges, libraries and organizations
worldwide. Chakra receives regular financial support from Indo-Caribbean
Cultural Council (ICC), though almost all of its income is derived
from book sales. The day is soon to dawn when Chakra would publish
all of its books without corporate support. The absence of paid
advertisements between some of its covers would certainly make
its titles look more professional.
As long as discrimination (real or imagined) exists against Indians
in the multi-ethnic societies of Trinidad and Guyana, there will
always be a need for an Indian press. Given the dominance of
Afro-Creole views and stories in the mainstream media, it is
important for an Indian press to provide a mirror and voice for
the community. The minority African-American community in United
States has been suffering the same fate in the media as the Indian
community in the Caribbean. The Indo-Caribbean community may
well take note of the words of one black critic (Anderson 2002)
who wrote: "If African-Americans do not tell their story,
no one will."
NOTES
1 While "race" is a term that is used in reference
to biology, and "ethnicity" refers to (cultural) behaviour,
the terms are used interchangeable in this paper on the Caribbean.
The same cannot be applicable to the subcontinent of India and
Africa. In India, for example, where race is a generic label,
there are ethnic/cultural differentials. There are several ethnic
voices in the Indian press like fundamentalists and the Dalits
[Untouchables].
2 The name was no doubt inspired by the box-office success of
the Indian movie Nagin which tells of a tragic tale of two star-crossed
lovers.
3 "Despite more than 170 years of publishing, most African
American presses struggle to survive. While the oldest, continuously
operating African American publication, the Philadelphia Tribune,
dates back to 1884, virtually thousands of others have come and
gone. Of the approximate 200 plus current newspapers, most are
weekly, and none publish daily, though there have been a number
of attempts at providing a daily. Those that do survive are generally
in urban areas with large black populations. Examples include
the Atlanta Daily World, the Los Angeles Sentinel, and the New
York Amsterdam News (in New York City)" (Anderson 2002).
4 Indian ethnic newspapers in Trinidad after World War 11 successfully
fought against in the Literacy Bill which sought to disenfranchise
Indians from adult suffrage because of their inability to read
and write English.
5 Simbhoonath Capildeo, who was a pandit, actually self-published
a booklet entitled 100 Questions and Answers on the Hindu Religion
in 1946.
6 The movie, The Mystic Masseur, produced by Merchant Ivory,
2001, is presently playing in Trinidad theatres. It stars Om
Puri, James Fox, Aasif Mandvi, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Ayesha Dharker,
Jimi Mistry, Zohra Sagal and Sakina Jaffery.
7 Trade publishers give an average of 15 percent royalty to writers
of books.
8 Some websites cover the Indo-Caribbean diaspora and are created
by foreign scholars. E.g. http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/index.html
created by Dr. Vinay Lal, Associate Professor of History, University
of Carolina (UCLA).
9 The word Chakra is Sanskrit for wheel, vortex or disk and refers
to each of the seven energy centers of the human body.
10 Vanity publishers are usually small companies that do not
give advances to the author and who do not pay for the cost of
production. Although the author owns the copyright, he/she must
pay all costs associated with publishing the book.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
This paper is dedicated to Dyanand Sookoo of D.S. Printers, who
was neither a friend nor acquaintance, when he decided to print
my first book free of charge. One may say that he was a guardian
angel who gave birth to Chakra Publishing House in 1990. I am
also grateful to the Indian High Commissioner to Trinidad and
Tobago, Virendra Gupta, for suggesting the approach I have taken
in writing this paper. Gratitude is also owed to my publishing
colleague, Samaroo Siewah, for reviewing a draft and making valuable
recommendations for improvement. For information on personal
experiences of self-publishing, I am grateful for the interviews
conducted with Sona Nagessar (a.k.a. Sonia Norville), Satyanarayan
Jaggernauth, Randhir Maharaj, Parsuram D. Maharaj, and Bhadase
S. Maharaj.
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