141 books published on single day

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a unique publishing event, on Monday Kerala Basha Institute (KBS) brought out a record 141 books. The books range from technical and how-to ones to classical and literary works.“It is a proud moment for every Malayalee. This initiative shows that our language is not dying and we have been able to cater to the literary needs of the new-generation Malayalee reader,” said poet and Jnanpith award winner O N V Kurup. In 1991, Kerala was certified by the United Nations as 100 per cent literate, the first Indian state to do so.Kerala has published the maximum number of technical books acrossall vernacular languages in the country, and in this niche it is a pioneer interms of quality of printing and translation. KBS Director Dr M R Tamban saidthe government should take the state’s literary heritage forward andestablish a language lab and museum to preserve its varied dialects andlinguistic traditions.Kurup talked about turning places of literarysignificance into tourist destinations. “In Germany they even showed me asmall book stall where acclaimed author Herman Hesse who wrote Sidhartha workedas a salesman,” he said.The majority of books brought out onMonday were do-it-yourself types and there has apparently been a terrificresponse. “We have a good response for books like farming-in-flats andeasy driving manual,” Tamban said.