S. Anand is an Indian author, publisher and journalist. He, along with D. Ravikumar, founded the publishing house

Navayana ''Navayāna'' (Devanagari: नवयान, IAST: ''Navayāna'', meaning "New Vehicle"), otherwise known as Navayāna Buddhism, refers to the Engaged Buddhism, socially engaged Buddhist schools, school of Buddhism founded and developed by th ...

in 2003, which is "India's first and only publishing house to focus on the issue of caste from an anticaste perspective."

Career

Navayana won the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

– London Book Fair International Young Publisher of the Year award in 2007. In

Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...

, the word ''

navayana ''Navayāna'' (Devanagari: नवयान, IAST: ''Navayāna'', meaning "New Vehicle"), otherwise known as Navayāna Buddhism, refers to the Engaged Buddhism, socially engaged Buddhist schools, school of Buddhism founded and developed by th ...

'' means . B. R. Ambedkar used the word in 1956 to describe the branch of

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

that would not be mired in the

Hinayana Hīnayāna is a Sanskrit term that was at one time applied collectively to the '' Śrāvakayāna'' and '' Pratyekabuddhayāna'' paths of Buddhism. This term appeared around the first or second century. The Hīnayāna is considered as the prelim ...

–

Mahayana Mahāyāna ( ; , , ; ) is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, Buddhist texts#Mahāyāna texts, texts, Buddhist philosophy, philosophies, and practices developed in ancient India ( onwards). It is considered one of the three main ex ...

divide, but would help

dalit Dalit ( from meaning "broken/scattered") is a term used for untouchables and outcasts, who represented the lowest stratum of the castes in the Indian subcontinent. They are also called Harijans. Dalits were excluded from the fourfold var ...

s gain equality in India. S. Anand is an Ambedkarite and a

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

. S. Anand co-authored, with Srividya Natarajan, and illustrators Durgabai Vyam and Suresh Vyam, the hugely popular graphic novel '' Bhimayana: Experiences of Untouchability'' on the life of B. R. Ambedkar, Indian polymath, social reformer and the architect of the Indian Constitution. He has also annotated Ambedkar's classic ''

Annihilation of Caste ''Annihilation of Caste'' is an undelivered speech written by B. R. Ambedkar in 1936. The speech was intended to be delivered at an anti-caste convention held in Lahore by Hindu reformers. However, upon reviewing the written speech, the confere ...

''; the annotated edition has an introductory essay by

Arundhati Roy Suzanna Arundhati Roy (; born 24 November 1961) is an Indian author best known for her novel ''The God of Small Things'' (1997), which won the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997 and became the best-selling book by a non-expatriate Indian author. ...

titled "The Doctor and the Saint". He co-authored ''Finding My Way'' with the Pradhan Gond artist Venkat Raman Singh Shyam. He is a student of

Dhrupad Dhrupad is a genre in Hindustani classical music from the Indian subcontinent. It is the oldest known style of major vocal styles associated with Hindustani classical music (for example in the Haveli Sangeet of Pushtimarg Sampradaya), and is als ...

with Ustad F. Wasifuddin Dagar. Before starting Navayana, Anand was a journalist with the news magazines ''Outlook'' and ''

Tehelka ''Tehelka'' () is an Indian news magazine known for its investigative journalism and sting operations. According to the British newspaper ''The Independent'', the ''Tehelka'' was founded by Tarun Tejpal, Aniruddha Bahal and another colleague ...

''. He is married to R. Sivapriya who works with

Bloomsbury India Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. Bloomsbury's head office is located on Bedford Square in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a US publishing office located in ...

References

External links

Excerpt from Roy's essay, "The Doctor and the Saint"“We didn't think of ourselves as a publishing company which will churn out books for the market”
- in conversation with S. Anand on GraphicShelf
How Navayana, publisher of anti-caste literature, was born, and where it is going now: Founder S Anand talks of Navayana's past, present, and post-pandemic future
Indian publishers (people) Indian male writers Navayana Buddhists Indian male journalists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century Indian Buddhists 21st-century Indian Buddhists {{India-writer-stub