Meerut is Hindi pulp fiction country. The people who top the charts here are Surendra Mohan Pathaks, Ved Praksh Sharmas, and Amit Khans. One more author has picked up — Anil Mohan. 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 the 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 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 (60) 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 Praksh Kamboj. In the 1970s 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.He has sold more than 25 millon books. He is a self-proclaimed follower of Om Prakash Sharma’s writing.He writes about 180 sheets of paper to make a novel of 350 paper-back pages. He writes in long hand.He charges Rs 4 lac for a book.Anil Mohan writes 8-10 novels a year. He is 50 now.Between them, the popular Hindi pulp fiction sells more than 20 lac copies a year. Veena Sharma has created Reema Bharti, a woman spy. Amit Khan has created Karan saxena, a RAW agent. There was a time when cinema and popular Hindi fiction were the only means of entertainment in hinterland.These days TV competes with them.