Read herrings

His books are a mix of Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi and English. These are the many Indias he has known. What keeps Hindi pulp-fiction legend Surendra Mohan Pathak ticking, at 85?

- Poonam Saxena

In 1977, the Hindi crime writer Surendra Mohan Pathak (right) published Paisath Lakh Ki Dakaiti (The 65 Lakh Heist), a nail-biting novel about a daring bank robbery.

Though he had written 93 books before this one and was reasonably well-known, this would become his biggest hit and establish him as a top-drawer author in his field.

Pathak, born in February 1940, turned 85 this year. His aura remains undimmed, even though the glory days of Hindi pulp-fiction are long over.

These low-cost paperbacks, published on coarse, recycled paper and known in the trade as pocket books or lugdi (Hindi for pulp), were wildly popular in the 1970s and '80s. There were as many as 70 publishers releasing new titles in those years, most operating out of Meerut and Delhi.

The books, with colourful covers featuring sexy women, macho-looking men, guns and blood spatter, did brisk business at railway stations, bus depots and local lending libraries.

In the crime and mystery subgenre, writers such as Om Prakash Sharma (called the grandfather of the genre), Ved Prakash Kamboj, Ved Prakash Sharma and Pathak ruled the roost. All except Pathak are now gone.