Meerut is Hindi pulp fiction country. The people who top the charts here are Surendra Mohan Pathaks, Ved Prakash Sharmas and Amit Khans. Desi pulp is India’s answer to the West’s airport novel. The plots are outlandish, the characters are over-the-top and the titles arrest your attention. Meerut, a cantonment town, is the hub of jasoosi upanyas. It is at railway stations and bus terminus that a chunk of Hindi crime fiction books sell. They are priced between Rs.50—100. They are printed on coarse paper from cheap wood pulp, and hence the name lugdi sahitya  or pulp fiction. Today the margins have declined to just 15 per cent, a huge drop from almost 100 per cent a few decades ago. The nucleus of publishing shifted to Allahabad in the 1970s. Ved Prakash Sharma ( 58 ) stays at Kavi Nagar, Meerut. He is the highest selling author of pulp fiction. He has written more than 150 books and churns out four novels a year, that sell more than one lac copies each. His Vardi  Wala Gunda sold more than 15 lac copies.

The 1960s spawned a crop of good writers – Rajhans, Ibne Safi, Gulshan Nanda and Ved Prakash Kamboj. In the 70s Nanda’s books were adapted for Hindi movies – Kati Patang, Khilona and Daag.

Surendra Mohan Pathak ( 75 ) writes intelligent stories. He does not spell out every detail from scratch. Vimal is his popular character.

Veena Sharma has created Reema Bharti, a woman spy. Amit Khan has created Karan Saxena, a RAW agent.