Lal’s role in this change was not a modest one. He nurtured young writers, convinced there was a future in this language. “Professor Lal was a guiding figure. He always encouraged me to write more,” recalls Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni of Mistress of Spices fame.
Today, Writers Workshop has a catalogue of 3,700 books and is also to be found on the net (www.writersworkshopindia.com). “We publish almost 100 new titles a year, which is quite a startling figure considering the fact that this is a one-man show,” he says. Professor Lal not only is the editor and publisher of Writer’s Workshop but also personally checks the manuscripts and proof checks each of the documents that are published. “It’s a tough job, more so because we try and maintain a stringent quality control,” he says.

A quaint little bookshop stands outside the gates of Lal’s residence, which sells all the titles under Writers Workshop. “We make do. There have been bad years when we had made a lot of losses but then there is always the satisfaction of doing what I always wanted to do. Most bookshops wont store our books; most newspapers wont review them because they are not lucrative propositions. Somehow we break even,” he says.
That’s probably because of Lal’s foolproof deal. “We generally publish 350 copies of a book. The writer is gifted 35 copies as royalty and is expected to buy a 100 copies. The rest is for sale,” he says.
In these days of million-dollar book deals and professional agents, what kind of future does small institutions like his have? “The attitude has not changed over the years. No one wants to touch new writers; poets are literary untouchables. But that doesn’t mean that they will not get chances to express themselves. There are plenty of small-time publishing houses like Kali, Stree and Katha which are doing good work,” he says.
And what kind of future does he see for Writers Workshop? “I don’t think it will have a future beyond me,” he says breezily. “Visions shouldn’t be institutionalised. I wouldn’t want Writers Workshop to be institutionalised. I only hope that others take the initiative to bring Indian writing to the forefront,” he says. The Seths in the making will say amen.

... contd.