KOCHI: The endless stretch of sand and loneliness are the only companions of nearly all Malayalees who arrive in the West Asian countries in search of livelihood. In order to break the monotony of the harsh living conditions, many turn to or seek solace in literature with the end result being the emergence of writers. However, not all get lucky enough to find a publisher. The budding writers in the Gulf region have found a saviour in Sangeetha Justin, who is the only woman publisher in the state.
“I arrived in Muscat as a nurse and like everyone else took up reading as a means to spend my past time. The one blessing that I had was to have a partner who is an avid reader. My husband never misses a chance to read. So when I resigned following the birth of my kids and wanted to do something from the comfort of my home, we decided to help writers here to get their works published,” says Sangeetha. So the couple launched an online website along with a few friends.
“We began uploading writings submitted by the Malayali diaspora. But I wanted to do something more. I wanted to publish a book and thus was born Saikatham Books. The name of my publishing house has a relation to the Gulf.
The word Saikatham means sand dunes,” she said. “Ten years have passed since I first published a book and have not looked back since. I came back home since we needed an office and a proper set up to launch a publishing house. I recruited around four women to do the DTP work, editing, proofreading and other works,” she said.
Sangeetha has till date published over 380 books in Malayalam and English. “Even though we publish books in both languages, Malayalam books trump English in numbers. We even have been a regular at the various books fests that have been held in the state,” she said. According to her, hers was the only female-headed publishing house to put a stall at the Sharjah Book fest that was organised in November.
“The number of women in this field is very less. What makes the job a hard one is the amount of travel that one has to do,” she said. However, Sangeetha has overcome all odds and is today running a well-heeled publishing house.“Even though the publishing industry is not doing great compared to the pre-computer and internet era, everything not very gloomy. Reading is picking up and the number of those like to have a book in their hands is also increasing. This bodes well for the publishing industry,” she said.
Sangeetha’s Kothamangalam-based publishing house has many books going into their eight edition. “We even managed to rope in Liberian writer Vamba Sherif. We published the Malayalam translation of his book ‘Land of My Fathers,” she said.Sangeetha also has written and published a children’s book. “I might take up writing provided I have time after running the publishing house,” she said. The support her husband provides is her backbone.