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If You Were To Write An Epitaph...

The war of words between two heavyweights of Hindi literature.

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If You Were To Write An Epitaph...
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In a poignant new twist to the tale, Gill revealed that 10 days before his death, a distraught Verma had removed his oxygen mask in hospital to telephone Maheshwari and ask, "Are you in a conspiracy against me?" Maheshwari does not deny that last phone call, but claims it was just friendly banter. He says that Gill, a poet and herself a Rajkamal author, wants to launch her own publishing house with Nirmal Verma’s works and wants him to give her publishing rights for these. Maheshwari has asked her for documents to prove she has inherited the rights.

The titans of Hindi literature have been quick to take sides in this battle. Some point out that Maheshwari is right in asking for legal proof as Gagan is Verma’s second wife and had married him just about a decade ago and may not be his sole heir, since his daughter from his first marriage could also be a claimant. Others, like prominent Hindi writer Kamleshwar, point out that there is enormous scope for fudging royalty payments, as it is difficult to know whether a publisher has printed 500 or 5,000 copies of an author’s book.

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