On the other hand, the only effect 9/11 seems to have had on India’s reading public is to bring them by the hordes to book fairs. This time at the World Book Fair there were several publishing houses toasting their triumph after making record sales of Rs 4 and 5 lakh a day. Spiritualism sold, of course, but so did "knowledge books" and guide books and encyclopaedias on practically everything as parents egged their children on in the rat race for more learning. Novels sold, so did poetry, even Hindi publishers, in the doldrums for so many years, were in high spirits as bookbuyers flocked in, glad to see books that they can never find in ordinary bookshops. A leading Hindi publisher did brisk business by launching Khushwant Singh’s autobiography in Hindi even before the official launch of the original, Truth, Love and A Little Malice.
But there is one lot to whom 9/11 made more than a little difference: our expat writing brigade. Pankaj Misra, for instance, confessed he is too dispirited after WTC and after to do much work on the non-fiction book he started on the life of Gautam Buddha.
