The Karnatak Press Saga

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The Karnatak Press Saga is the engrossing story of a 128-year-old publishing house that became an institution in itself.

Its history spans three different families and as many generations. Each family and generation had its own style of management and functioning. The owners and managers were sometimes egocentric and at times family-oriented. They struggled through political upheavals and weathered cultural and technological changes. The Press soared to dizzying heights of success but also plumbed the depths of economic crises.

Through it all, the institution was instrumental in stimulating educational progress and increasing social awareness.

This book analyses the values of entrepreneurship and commitment to the profession - the challenges, frustrations, achievements and above all, the dedicated efforts that go into building a great firm.

It should be of immense interest to students as well as professionals of management, publishing and the media.

The author, Sadanand Bhatkal, was born on December 8, 1922, in Dharwar. He completed his M.A. in Sociology and Economics in 1943 and LL.B. in 1945. Since 1946, he has been one of the main driving forces behind Popular Book Depot and Popular Prakashan, Bhatkal Books International. He was the Assistant Editor of the publications, Indian Publisher and Bookseller and Indian Writing Today. He has also published collections of poems and essays called Nirmal and Other Poems (1946), The Future of Indian Youth (1948), Horizon (1948) and Contemporary India (1997). He is a popular newspaper columnist.

The centenary celebrations of 'Keshav Bhikaji Dhawale' was an event that did us the bookmen of Maharashtra -proud. The firm, a family concern, was started in 1900 and the year 1999-2000 was celebrated by the present management of the firm by holding various functions during the year.

I have the habit of participating in such celebrations in more than a casual manner. Earlier too, a few such events were organized by me, some individually and others by taking a few friends along with me. While the official finalé was scheduled for July 2000, I suggested to a few of my friends that I as a booklover, should also felicitate the firm on this occasion. We decided to form a committee to chalk out the details.

Because of my emotional attachment to 'Karnatak' and because from 1945 'Karnatak' was a part of the Dhawale unit, I suggested that the Committee be called "Karnatak-Keshav Bhikaji Dhawale Centenary Celebrations Committee". I strongly believed and still feel that Karnatak did contribute to Dhawale's growth in a big way- a fact generally acknowledged by B. G. Dhawale (Sonyabapu), the Supremo of Dhawale- Karnatak in the issue of Marathichiye Nagari produced in 1949. Most of the members agreed to this suggestion and letterheads were printed accordingly. But some members of the Dhawale family took serious objection to thus name the Committee.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages