City-based publisher is ecstatic on the Nobel Peace Prize winner sending him an e-mail

Now Prabhat Road resident Ulhas Latkar can brag about his 'White House' connection to his friends, officially. A publisher, Latkar is one of the few people in the country to receive an e-mail from US President Barack Obama, who recently won the Noble Peace Prize.

Latkar, who runs Ameya Prakashan, had published the Marathi translation of Obama's books, Audacity Of Hope: Thoughts On Reclaiming The American Dream in January this year. He has also acquired the rights to translate and publish Obama's other books Dreams Of My Father: A Story Of Race And Inheritance and Change Is Yet To Come by January.

Speaking about the e-mail, Latkar said, "It reads like an impromptu letter he had written to someone close to him. It was very touching." The e-mail's first few lines read, 'This morning Michelle and I awoke to some surprising and humbling news. At 6 am, we received word that I'd been awarded the Noble Peace Prize for 2009.'



Best moment
Latkar said that receiving the e-mail is one of the best moments of his life. "For our first book, we got permission from the original publisher. But for the second book, Dreams From My Father, the sanction letter bore the signature of the president. But even that didn't give me this much pleasure."

Latkar said that he had initiated the process of getting the rights for the books in June 2007, four months after Obama announced his intention to run for president. "The whole experience was very enriching. It gave us the rare opportunity to connect with him," said Latkar.