It is important to have such festivals around the country because it gives everyone access to such events
When we founded Crossword in 1992, a key insight was that we would do better to serve under-served or unserved customers. Our focus was to build new readers, who did not know what to buy. We therefore created a new, attractive browsing experience that enabled them to read and discover the magic of books; this was a hit with serious readers too.
There were no public spaces or forums then where one could go and interact with one’s favourite authors. There was no dialogue between these two communities. And we wanted to become a community centre that would fulfil that need.
But I don’t see these festivals, even if they are in the same city—Mumbai has three—in competition with each other, simply because they all happen at different times of the year. They all get their own audiences and having different geographies also helps. You can reach out to more new people. The KGAF lit fest is unique because it is a part of a larger arts festival, and gets an audience cutting across all socio-economic strata. But other literature fests, in Mumbai and elsewhere, are very important as well.
(This story appears in the 10 January, 2014 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)