"Ishq Mein Shahar Hona", the first book by Kumar under the series 'LaPreK' -- an acronym for Laghu Prem Katha (Short Love Story) sold more than 14,000 copies within a year, which according to sales estimates of Hindi books is a very high number.
The idea of brief, abstract stories invoking nostalgia and love and with a contemporary narrative was concieved around four years ago by Satyanand Nirupam, editorial director Rajkamal Prakashan, whose imprint Sarthak has published the series.
"Ishq Mein Maati Hona" by Bihar-based journalist Girindra Nath Jha was the second book in the series and has sold over 2,000 copies since its release in October last year.
The third book in the series "Ishq Koi News Nahi", penned by Vineet Kumar, a teacher at a Delhi University college, was launched on Saturday at the New Delhi World Book Fair here.
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The soaring figures, he says, reflect that 'LaPreK' has proved to be a "turning point" in recent Hindi writing and publishing.
'LaPreK', as Nirupam puts it, is more of a nano-fiction that emerged from random posts he saw on Facebook in 2012 and then decided to bring them out in book form.
"As a reader when you pick up a book, your first thought
would be 'What good does it have for me or what would I lose if I don't read it?' This book is for both the older as well as younger generation which thought Hindi writing has become stagnant," Nirupam says.
Moreover, he adds "People look for their reflections in books and stories. They connect to the emotions, actions and thoughts similar to theirs and the kind of quotidian language they speak."
"Lengthy articles become bookmarks 'to be read on some leisurely Sunday' Eight-ten line stories where there are one or two lines which connect to us and only writings go beyond time that are poignant and touch a chord with life. I thought it has that element. It simplifies the complications that we are all grappled with," he says.
According to the editorial director the LaPreK series does not fit into traditional category of literature and is only a "means to bring back the readers who seemed to have drifted away from Hindi."
"I consider it traditional literature and shouldn't be taken lightly, there is some serious matter to it but then again it's up to the reader on how they take it.
"Not everyone is a serious reader also. People enjoy less-serious works too. Like someone travelling from Delhi to Patna can in that short span of time read this book and enjoy. Content is serious, but easy to read. However, it would take more than one reading to gauge the depth. Plus the graphic illustrations are there. A lot has been worked on it," says Girindra.
The content of the book, he says, "is a contemporary narrative, absolutely."
"It belongs to this time. If it will remain there tomorrow, or if we will remain tomorrow, that nobody knows."
All the three books in the series have been illustrated by Vikram Nayak.