Dropping a potential bestseller: Fear of the Establishment?
- 56 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Three paragraphs are reportedly at the root of Penguin Random House India asking Sonia Gandhi to delete or edit sections which she has refused to do.
By Meher Pestonji in Mumbai
The contrast could not be more glaring. British/American publications openly lampooning the most powerful man in the world, versus the Indian arm of an international publishing house backing off from publishing the memoires of one of the world’s most respected women.
Who would have thought Sonia Gandhi’s autobiography ‘Belonging, a Journey of Love’ would be turned down by no less than Penguin Random House India (PRHI)! The Indian edition is now up for grabs with HarperCollins leading the line-up of publishers throwing in their bids to acquire publication rights. The book is tentatively scheduled for a November 10, 2026 release.
Three paragraphs are reportedly at the root of PRHI asking Sonia Gandhi to delete or edit sections which she has refused to do. The first refers to Narendra Modi calling her a ‘Jersey cow’ around the time of the Gujarat riots. Considering that the remark was widely reported in the media, isn’t it infructuous to ask for it to be removed in her biography.
The second concerns a national security issue. Sonia’s remarks on infiltration along the line of control (LoC) between India and China, disputed by the Indian government. Her comments concur with the views of General M.M.Naravane, expressed in his book ‘Four Stars of Destiny’, also rejected for publication by PRHI.
An army General’s views on army matters cannot be dismissed. Fact checkers need to balance the official version with the views of a respected professional. Blanking them out suggests a pro-establishment bias.
It is legitimate for Sonia Gandhi to agree with the army general and is no reason to invite editorial interference.
PRHI, which has published several titles on the RSS, reportedly, also wanted references to the RSS removed, thereby earning the epithet ‘paltu penguin’ with memes depicting the penguin logo in khaki shorts or with lotus on wings.
By dropping a potential bestseller for fear of political ramifications, PRHI has not only damaged its reputation among authors and readers, it has also displayed poor marketing sense by throwing away a lucrative, prestigious book contract.
While different criteria apply to political art, poetry and narratives, its interesting to compare the constraints on big publishers with the freedom enjoyed by small publishing houses in the US and UK.
Early this year Fin Hall’s A Blot from the Blue published a collection of politically critical poetry titled ‘Poems for the End of the World’, and more recently Poetry Global Network helmed by Mark Fishbein has come out with TDS, Trump Derangement Syndrome.
TDS is an anthology of twenty-eight poets and graphic artists mocking and expressing their angst at the American president. A telling sign that despite current upheavals, democracy still holds up its head in the West, while temerity runs the roost here.
Consider defiance in the title poem by Mark Fishbein, publisher of Poetry Global Network and editor of the anthology:
TDS
A snake bite with no antidote;
A virus worse than Covid.
Once the venom hits the brain:
A crash from bad cocaine,
A condition that makes the penis wilt
The heart to fart, the bowels to squint,
Blood pressure through the roof,
Diarrhea and acne to boot
Nerves exposed to electric shocks
Feet swollen and obese on top…
Look, he started it. His diagnosis was correct.
Just about everyone around here has it, TDS.
I got it from the coffee shop, the sports bar TV,
The airport, wherever Fox News is on the screen
A chronic disease that ends in dementia –
A cancer on the soul called America.
Can any writer or poet in India get away with writing like this?
These poets and visual artists are reclaiming their right to be irreverent regardless of the high position of their subject. Visual artists express the same spirit of rebellion.
The actions of Trump’s ICE are a thorn in the hearts of almost all the poets.
Martin L Parker aka Parquillian a linguist, graphic artist and poet, writes
A five year old shivered like a tiny rabbit
The tears like branches flow and sparkle
They stole him away from his home and habit
Until his health failed in this frozen farkle
The orange one rants and shows no shame
Though stunts like these drag down his name
Some poems are in a quieter vein without holding back their punches. Candelin Wahl, an activist grandma from Vermont enraged by the cruel actions of ICE in her neighbourhood, writes ‘Patron Saint: A Haibun’
“I opened the latest fund-raising mailer from St Jude’s Children’s Hospital. As usual tossed most of it, but kept the free address labels: Independence day theme, kids crayon flags, stars and stripes. Hand lettered stickers with I Love America and U-S-A. Every day, every week, the news grabs and twists – my country, my freedoms backslide further. What colour is my patriotism?
phone and id taken
detained who knows where
no cause is hopeless”
Don’t we in India feel the same helplessness as we watch Muslims needlessly targeted, Dalits systematically oppressed, thousands disenfranchised in Assam, West Bengal, other states?
Till the Cockroach Janta Party emerged, there’s been no swell of rebellion, except the hard and protracted farmer’s movement in 2020-21. Unconscionably, these crimes have become ‘normalised’ in public consciousness.
TDS opens the door for worldwide disenchantment with the ruling class to unite and rise. Repression abounds but push backs are coming.
Compromisers like Penguin better be aware.
Meher Pestonji is a writer, poet and social activist based in Mumbai. She has been a journalist writing on multiple social issues, theatre, literature and art, and she has worked in several grassroots and civil society campaigns for the rights of the marginalised, for women’s rights, housing rights of slum dwellers, with street kids, among other campaigns. Her books include Mixed Marriage and Other Parsi Stories, Pervez, Sadak Chhaap, Piano for sale, Feeding crows, Outsider. Her other books include Being Human in a War Zone, Can Poetry Halt War, Offspring and Poems.