Launch of the Penguin English-Hindi/Hindi-English Thesaurus and Dictionary
There was one piece of publishing that stood out like a beacon even above all these other great books as something really exceptional, and that was this fantastic dictionary and thesaurus set.
Hello and good evening everyone and thank you for coming to this important book launch.
I arrived in India late last year, having not been here for about 10 years and my recollection of the way books looked in India back then was, I am afraid to say, not great. Not that the content wasn’t great, but somehow the production didn’t really carry it off.
So I do have to admit when I was coming here more permanently, I was more than a little concerned that things would still be the same.
Well, I am happy to say that my fears were deeply unfounded, and that I have been delighted by the quality of the books I have seen, and if you will allow me some bias, particularly from Penguin.
It is quite normal for people like me to stand up at events like these and was lyrical about a new novel of some reportage, the latest business book but far more unusual for someone to go into raptures on a reference book!
But there was one piece of publishing that stood out like a beacon even above all these other great books as something really exceptional, and that was this fantastic dictionary and thesaurus set.
Figure 1. Mike Bryan: Here is something very special
It is stunning, I could get pleasure just looking at it without opening.
But obviously it is not just about looking great… It is what is in it that really counts, and what we have here is something very special, a seminal and immense piece of lexigraphical work. There is nothing else like it. It is a great achievement of Arvind, Kusum and the team who have worked so hard to make it happen.
And of course this is not just an important book for India, but also for the Indian diaspora and indeed academics and university libraries world wide.
I describe the set to the CEO of Pearson, Marjorie Scardino as a piece of genius… which is exactly what it is!
So could I invite Madhu Goswami, Arvind and Kusum to release the book and say a few words.
–Mike Bryan
4 April 2008
at India International Centre Annexe, New Delhi
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