Little do we realise that while the world has waited for long to get its hands on perhaps the most-awaited book of this year, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child — there was a printing press Manipal Technologies located in the secluded town of Manipal in Karnataka — printing away this JK Rowling script quietly in a mere 10-day span! It is the first press in Asia to have printed a Potter book — and one among three such other presses in the whole world that printed this title! After the book’s release, the press’ printing head spills the beans to DC about the mammoth task.
Shashi Ranjan, the vice-president and business head at Manipal Technologies, says that the pressure was on as they had to convert Rowling's manuscript into books in less than 10 days, and most importantly, not let even a word of the book get out of their doors.
“The challenge is getting a Harry Potter book printed in India. The mindset of the west is that a country like India cannot produce a book of international repute — and keep it a secret. Until the book gets released, they didn’t want any piece of information on the book being leaked. With social media being so active today, a factory like ours with over 3 lakh square feet of space and over 800 employees working day in and day out needs firm systems to keep projects secretive,” he says.
“This kind of project gives a huge boost to India on the whole, its branding for our country, and proves that we can deliver world class books,” says Shashi about the printing process, not revealing the exact number of books printed as the publisher requires to keep it discreet.
He also adds that printing has been going on ever since they received the manuscript — as the book is being sold in large numbers. “We had earlier taken on projects of other books like Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy, and Sachin Tendulkar’s autobiography which were embargoed and required similar security like this book,” Shashi signs off.
