Manjul Publishing House is not a name that rings a bell unless you have come across its scores of Hindi self-help books like Vaade jo nibhane hain. All that and more are set to change on November 14 when the company will release its magical potion: Harry Potter aur Paras Pathar. The Hindi translation of the global hit Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone comes a good six years after its international release. Apart from versions in major international languages and scores of pirated Chinese versions, the book is available even in Basque. And across the border, there are many takers for the Urdu muggles. The bidding for the Hindi translation began in March 2003 and there were 20 applicants with author J K Rowling’s agent Christopher Little. This included some major English publishing houses as well. Four were shortlisted for their experience with previous translations into Hindi and Manjul won because of the size of the bid. Manjul’s translator is Sudhir Dixit, a professor of English from Hoshangabad, who says he has read the original 35 times. Apart from the chapters being vetted by an 11-year-old for readability, the final version was sent back to Rowling’s agent for approval before it was printed. Vivek Raheja, Manjul’s CEO, would rather not talk about the financial details of the deal: ‘‘The author’s representatives do not want financial details discussed but the amount was on par with similar deals made for other foreign languages.’’ Manjul will also follow up the Hindi translation with Gujarati, Malayalam and Marathi versions. The publishing house has so far specialised in self-help books. Some translations that they have had successes with in the past were Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus; How to win friends and influence people and Who moved my cheese?. But their first print run for the Harry Potter — 40,000 copies — has been matched only once in the past, by their biggest hit to date Vaade jo nibhane hain. The Hindi version will be priced at Rs 165, and the publishing house is also trying out a new marketing strategy. Apart from book stalls, it could also be ordered from newspaper vendors of a leading Hindi vernacular, and will be delivered at home. Raheja says the market repsonse has been more than enthusiastic and he expects sales in all but a few of the Southern states. The publicity brochure provides a glimpse of just what Harry Potter may read like in Hindi — magic spells change to mantras, invisible cloaks to adrishya chogas, but Quidditch remains Quidditch. Sample this: ‘‘Harry Potter aur paras pathar’ kahani hai ek gyarah saal ke ladke ki, jo apne uncle-aunty ke saath dukhad zindagi ji raha hai hai. Parantu tabhi use jaadu aur tantra ke school Hogwarts mein padne ke liye bulaya jata hai aur vahan jaakar veh ban jaata ek mahan jaadugar. School mein veh Quidditch khelta hai, mantra padta hai, ande se dragon nikalte dekhta hai aur adrishya choga pehankar poore school mein ghoomta hai’’.
