The birth of an industry: The Times of India reports that India's first graphic novel, Sarnath Banerjee's Corridor, soon will be joined by Rohit Gupta's graphic novella, The Doppler Effect:

"In India, however, comics are just beginning to be taken seriously. While comics for children, published by houses like Diamond, Raj and Amar Chitra Katha are widely sold and read, the graphic novel as a form is just starting out.

"Banerjee, whose novelhas sold out of its initial print run of 2,000 copies and is now being reprinted, spent two years seeking a publisher willing to take the book on before Penguin signed it.

"But Gupta, who has formed his own comic publishing house, Apollo Bunder Comics, is undaunted. 'People will take it seriously,' he asserts of The Doppler Effect."