Stephen visited Higginbothams, India’s oldest bookshop based in Chennai, capital of Tamil Nadu, and then paid a call on the country’s newest large library, the Anna Centenary Library (ACL). The Press has a very special connection with the library having made the biggest sale in its history (over 35,000 books) to the ACL. Stephen spent twenty minutes in the children’s section reading stories to a group of children.

From Chennai, Stephen visited Cambridge’s newest India office based in Thiruvanathapuram, Kerala. The new office is the eighth in India, joining operations in Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi and Pune. Stephen was accorded a traditional Keralite welcome with a panchavadyam orchestra of five instruments, after holding a well-attended Press Conference for the state’s media and meeting special guests including academics, trade delegates, representatives from schools and Cambridge authors.

Cambridge began laying the groundwork for the Thiruvanathapuram office two years ago, with one member of staff. This has now grown to seven employees thanks to a rapidly expanding business, which has spawned a series of co-publications with Kerala’s Universities and a special role in developing English language teaching (ELT) materials for the Universities.

Peter’s tour took in the Mumbai office, where he too was treated to a traditional welcome. Over lunch, he met the Mumbai and Pune Teams and discussed with them current business and prospects for the region.

Peter and Executive Director Anil Kumar Pandey then gave interviews to reporters from The Times Of India and DNA (an English language daily newspaper) before meeting more than 150 people from trade, schools, universities & institutes at an evening reception.

Both Stephen and Peter met Press customers, contacts, and staff at a reception. As this is festival time in India, a visit to a Durga Puja Pandal, was arranged and everyone was amazed by the colours, the sounds and the dhak (a special kind of drum).