‘Good books will always find good readers’: Dipankar Das

For those looking for a good place to read and buy books, Baatighar is the place to go. In almost a decade and a half, Baatighar has evolved from being just a bookstore and has become synonymous with the taste of the people of Dhaka and Chittagong. Artists and writers flock to the different branches of Baatighar and discuss and spend time with books on a regular basis. Baatighar's founder Dipankar Das, who once worked with Professor Abdullah Abu Sayeed at the Bishwo Shahitto Kendro in Dhaka, has turned many people's dreams into reality. 

The bookstore debuted as a publishing company in 2009, and has established its unique identity among the bookstores across the country. So far this institution has published about 350 books. On June 17, 2005, Baatighar started its journey in a simple house at the Cheragi Pahar intersection of Chittagong city. 

At present there are large branches of Baatighar in Chittagong, Dhaka and Sylhet and smaller branches in the Shahbagh and Bangla Bazar area of Dhaka. Currently, they are also working to establish a branch at Ghoramara, the heart of Rajshahi city. A total of 60 employees work in all branches. On the occasion of Baatighar's 19th founding anniversary, Dipankar Das spoke to Emran Mahfuz of The Daily Star. 

Publishers say that books don't sell and that readers don't read books. But at the end of the Boi Mela, Bangla Academy reports book sales worth crores of takas. Who buys all these books then? 

The phrase 'books don't sell' is subjective. It is true that the book market in Bangladesh is not very big. However, our experience is that good books always have readers because readers do want to read. The crux of the issue is whether or not good books are reaching the intended readers. It is true that the volume of book sales is very small in proportion to the population of the country. If even one tenth of the people who visit the Boi Mela bought books, the book market would be much larger. 

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What message does the opening of the new branch of Baatighar convey in such a small market? 

Professor Abdullah Abu Sayeed, the founder of Bishwo Shahitto Kendro, will inaugurate the new branch of Baatighar in Rajshahi on June 24. As many know, it has been 19 years since Baatighar started its journey as a small shop. For so long, we have tried to convey the messages of books to people. We are still surviving because there are so many writers and readers from all over the country. Because of their interest, we are able to build new sales centres in the big cities of the country. We want to create new readers. It will take a long time, but we want to do the hard work. We want to reach out to people with books and convey that it is not possible for people to move forward without knowledge. 

Libraries are closing down due to a lack of readers. However, Baatighar is an exception and it is always filled with readers. What do you think is the reason behind this? 

Baatighar respects the reader's wishes. Earlier, in bookstores, readers could not touch a book before buying it. However, our stores are arranged in such a way that the reader can take the book from the shelf, sit and flip through it for some time and then decide if they want to buy it. We also add books to our collection as per the reader's demand. That is, we are ready to provide any book-centric service to the reader. Due to these reasons, Baatighar has received the love of the readers. 

One common complaint about Baatighar is that they give more importance to Indian books. Would you like to comment on this? 

This is irrelevant. Baatighar sells books, mainly Bangla and English language books. We try to provide the kind of books that the readers want. Our passion is for books, not for any country. 

Baatighar publishes books throughout the year. What are the aspects it prioritises when it comes to publishing? 

We want to put good books in the hands of readers. By that I mean books of good quality in all aspects. We publish selected manuscripts on various subjects; putting effort in all aspects of the book—the language used, editing, cover art, paper, printing and binding—is very important. We also put effort into promoting the book as well as marketing after publication, because no matter how good a book we publish, if it does not reach the reader, the whole effort is in vain. 

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What steps does Baatighar take when it comes to publishing a book? 

First we select the manuscripts based on the opinion of a panel consisting of experts from various fields. Then the manuscript goes to the editor's desk. The author makes additions and subtractions to the manuscript based on the editor's advice. Then we let the author see the makeup of the book. At this point, the cover artist designs the cover. 

This entire process involves at least four steps of spelling corrections, as needed, to ensure the book is accurate. At the last step, a few sample copies of the book are finally printed and bound. Everyone concerned looks at the printed book and checks everything throughout the book, and if everything is correct then the book is handed over to the reader. 

If you are unable to attend one of our physical stores, you can also access Baatighar online which allows you to buy books from anywhere in this country or even abroad. 

Translated from the Bangla by Hrishik Roy.