Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India (78 page)

I am lucky to have a large family and even larger circle of friends who expected the book long ago. As years went by a few of them even stopped enquiring about it but my brothers, sisters-in-law, nephews and nieces did not give up. My father-in-law has waited for it most eagerly. Jyoti, my wife, my best friend, a saathi through the crests and troughs of life, has seen me abandon many projects mid-way. This time she did not let me go astray and took over all the responsibilities to let me chase my dream within a deadline. She has suffered being read out chapters to and being made to read at unearthly hours. Jyoti has been critical and indulgent with her comments on the manuscript in equal measure. Thanks for being there always. The best part of my sabbatical was the time spent with my daughter Jahnavi who would occasionally type for me and sort out research material. All of ten when I started the book, Jahnavi is a teenager now, better informed and more opinionated. Hope she finds the book worth the effort her father made. Thanks also to Krishna and Mary for efficiently running the house and little Riaan for his playful diversions.

The idea for a book on Gita Press came during a discussion with my father way back in 2008, months before he left us without any warning. But his curiosity about the success of Gita Press stayed with me. Much as our ideological worldview differed, I owe it to him for letting me see the world through my own prism and creating an environment where books and ideas mattered the most. It was an atmosphere of free and frank discussion in which all was fair and forgotten the next morning. My disciplinarian mother was happy I was finally doing something substantive. But she followed my father in 2012, two months into my sabbatical, after a night of illness. In fact, the first chapter was completed at my home in Ranchi on the same chair she sat after her walks or when she came down to the ground floor. I miss the two readers who mattered the most. The book is dedicated to them.