Bibliofile

Books and the Man

Ravi Vyas, veteran publisher and man of books, passed away in his Delhi home last week. His friends got together to remember him on the last day of the World Book Fair, recounting many anecdotes. One was about how he got into publishing. Apparently, after his Masters, Ravi would sit under a tree in Lodi Garden, reading all day. Khushwant Singh, who lived nearby, would go there every day for his walks and one day asked him: “Young man, why are you here, reading all the time?” Ravi replied that he didn’t have a job, and so he read. Khushwant, then a director at Orient Longman (as it was known then), hired him on the spot. Soon, Ravi was sent to OL’s London offices to learn on the job and was with them for many years. Later, he moved to Macmillan, worked as consultant for many publishers, wrote books and published columns for The Telegraph, The Hindu and Business Standard. Both writers and readers will miss him.

Alice in Neverland

Unlike last year, there were not too many book-based films at the Oscars this time. But one biggie, best actress for Julianne Moore in Still Alice, was based on The New York Times bestselling novel by Lisa Genova. It is about a woman diagnosed with early onset of Alzheimer’s and how it affects the people around her, perfected by Moore as Alice in the film. Moore’s character is a linguistics professor who starts to lose grip on her mem­ory, on her job and on her family.