French Devotion
The one word that comes to mind when Indian-born Swami Anand Sant and French-born Ma Divyam Ghata describe their company that publishes Osho's books in France is devotion. From the 16-hour days ("we take a couple of hours for ourselves on the weekend," says Sant) to the determination in their voices when they talk about their successful company, Le Voyage Intérieur, the story they tell is one of hard work.
To get out their 15-20 thousand books a year, Ghata, a ten year sannyasin and Sant, who came to Osho in 1972, cover all the functions of the company themselves. Ghata handles the production end which includes office work and relations with the Maury Europe, their highly reputable printer. Sant does the distribution which includes dispatch, transport and relations with distributors in four countries: France, Belgium, Switserland and Canada, and personal contacts with ten major bookstores in Paris. All the books are stored at their house and Sant and Ghata pack them up themselves and send them off to the various wholesale and retail outlets.
Established five years ago, they now have a line of a dozen Osho books. Best sellers include translations of A Cup of Tea; Meditation: The First and Last Freedom; My Way the Way of the White Clouds and the perennial From Sex to Superconsciousness. Although the French are known for being very intellectual, the book that hasn't been much of a seller so far is The Diamond Sutra, Osho's discourses on the classic sutra of Buddha.
Ghata and Sant even work at other jobs three or four months of the year to make ends meet. So why are they willing to work so hard to publish Osho's books?
"It's the only thing that makes me happy," says Sant, "Other jobs don't interest me."
Says Ghata smiling so warmly, "The Master's grace."