The last day I went in to work was surreal – Bengaluru’s roads, normally choc-a-block with traffic, were near empty, the Pratham Books offi...
The last day I went in to work was surreal – Bengaluru’s roads, normally choc-a-block with traffic, were near empty, the Pratham Books office eerily quiet without the editors muttering over print dummies and the digital team banging away at their keyboards. My colleagues who had come in to take back-ups and sort administration and finance issues looked more subdued than ever. Even our office indie dog, Max, looked puzzled.
The next day we shut both our Bengaluru and Delhi offices as well as our sole warehouse in Delhi, like all other publishing houses, switching to a completely work from home scenario.
That was March 19.
The world has been going through an unprecedented crisis since January of this year – one that is impacting us more severely and swiftly than anything ever has, forcing us to adapt to new systems and routines. According to UNESCO, more than 1.3 billion children and youth across the world are at home as schools and colleges close in an effort to control the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a wonderful global initiative, many children’s publishers opened up their books for the lockdown period by organising free online storytelling sessions and workshops nationally and internationally with acclaimed children’s writers and illustrators. They also...
