At the Delhi Book Fair a few years ago I was looking for a particular title when a smiling elderly figure at the stall volunteered to procure it for me from Kerala at no extra cost. As we exchanged our visiting cards, it rang a bell. The first time I had met Dominic Chacko Kizhakkemuri (1914-1999), or simply DC for literary Kerala, was over three decades ago when I was a guest of his neighbour near Devalokam at Kottayam.DC was at that time Secretary of the Sahitya Pravarthaka Sahakarana Sangam, a cooperative venture of Malayalam writers. The success of the first-ever society of its kind in the world owed almost entirely to his untiring efforts, business acumen and innovative ideas. For the first time, the writers began to get a standard royalty of 30 per cent, going up to 40 per cent in some cases. However, more important for them was the transparency of the whole transaction with each writer knowing exactly how many copies of his book were printed and sold.Writers were no longer at the mercy of thepublishing sharks. This gave rise to a crop of writers, who could devote full time to writing in the full knowledge that the society would take care of their financial needs. A good writer did not have to look for another source of livelihood. What's more, writers like the late Vaikom Muhammed Basheer, P. Kesavadev and Ponkunnam Varkey, who were perpetually in debt, could approach DC and get `advance' payment for their books. By introducing the system of `advance', DC ensured a measure of discipline among the writers, who were known for their Bohemian nature. Thus the society became a veritable sanctuary for indigent writers.It is no exaggeration to say that DC raised the publishing business to the cultural sphere. He accomplished it by conceiving the idea of book festivals and translating it into reality in towns and villages. The more exposure the books got, the more buyers and readers they found. He paid attention to both the quality and content of the books published by the society and sold through itsown National Book Stall outlets in the major towns of the state.Again, it was DC, who first thought of what is known as the Pre-publication Scheme. By advertising books in advance and collecting money in instalments, he not only ensured sale of books but also brought them within the reach of the common man. The 10-volume encyclopedia the society brought out would not have been possible but for his idea of `books financing books'. Book club is yet another innovative idea that struck the imagination of the book-lover.How important DC was to the society can be gauged from the fact that soon after he left it in unpleasant circumstances, its fortunes took a nosedive. It had nearly died when, a couple of years ago, the government stepped in with a huge capital investment. As DC was fond of saying, he had a capital of less than Rs 1,000 when he started his own DC Books, which is today the largest publisher of Malayalam books with one new book a day to its credit.It speaks volumes for his confidence that herepublished Herm-ann Gundert's Malayalam Bible, originally published over 150 years ago. An essayist of eminence and raconteur of jokes and anecdotes, DC kept going two popular columns in the weeklies, Kumkumam and Manorajyam, all through his busy publishing life. A thorough disciplinarian and minute observer, it was his devotion to work that brought him to Delhi some months ago for the inaugural of his company's full-fledged stall at Delhi's Kerala Club.Already suffering from intestinal cancer, DC had developed high fever but that did not prevent him from mixing freely with the large number of Malayalis who had assembled at the Club that day.The Padma Bhushan the government bestowed on him this Republic Day was a fitting tribute to a life spent popularising books. That he died so soon after hearing about the award is what makes his death all the more poignant.
