Jun 06, 2003 10:05 PM
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(Updated Jun 06, 2003 10:05 PM)
I’m an incorrigible bookworm. The origins of this malady are clouded in my brain by the ravages of time but the intensity with which it envelops me amazes me no end. It was Groucho Marx who once wistfully remarked, “Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read”.
That pretty much sums up all there is to say about man’s two best friends. There is a famous anecdote about a star MSian’s (am not disclosing “her” name) obsession with dogs and books. If you’ve heard it before, consider it said. If you haven’t, you’re not missing much.
My one disappointment with Mumbai is the lack of adequately stacked bookstores. Save for “Strand Book Stall”, am yet to come across any other that could engage my attention for more than 30 minutes. Bangalore, on the other hand, is a booklovers paradise - a position it manages to cling on to despite the sweeping IT wave. A friend of mine once remarked that in Bangalore, bookstores are landmarks. Though his intention behind that statement was jestful, its veracity cannot be ignored.
Mahatma Gandhi Road. Along with “Brigade Road” that runs perpendicular to it, these two places are notorious haunts for three kinds of people – thirsty dipsomaniacs, gleeful lechers and pathological shoppers. A more discreet, and steadily declining category of entomological species whom it is becoming increasingly difficult to spot here are simply referred to as “Bookworms”.
My recent trip to Bangalore gave me the wonderful opportunity to catch up with my long lost “friends”. If I wasn’t cracking my head at office or catching up with old pals in the evenings, I would invariably be lost for hours on end in any of the book repositories mentioned below.
1. Gangaram’s Book Bureau, MG Road
This is my absolutely favourite bookstore. In existence since the last 27 years, it successfully survived a major fire in the early 80’s and continues to draw hordes of book lovers every day. Spread over four sprawling stories, it is by far the most extensive bookstore in Bangalore. There are separate floors each for stationery (there’s nothing you can’t get here), literature (fiction, non-fiction and the rest), competitive exam study books & research materials and finally subject-based study books like management and philosophy. The books are neatly arranged and the attendants are very helpful and can dig out books from impossible places in the twinkling of an eye.
2. Higginbothams, MG Road
Adjacent to Gangaram’s, this is another silent sentinel to a bygone era of genuine booklovers. It is not as large as GBG in terms of floorspace index but is nevertheless a treasure trove of wonderful books. One can find literature here on anything under the sun from guide maps of India to the latest fiction, ageless classics and just about anything else. However, it’s not as comprehensive as GBG is in terms of housing stationery and study books. The place also gives the impression of being slightly cramped for space but only just – it’s never a problem to find one’s way around.
3. Select Book House, Off Brigade Road
I might have never known about this store but for Arun’s terrific review on it sometime ago. I pestered him for the directions to this place but such over-enthusiasm, in hindsight, seems gratuitous to me now. Select is located in a by-lane bang next to the hotel in which I was staying. But for the small board outside, I might have mistaken it to be more of a house and less of a bookstore. Opened in 1945 by one Mr. Rao, it’s been handed down from one generation to the next and renders yeoman service to the society. The amazing variety on display ranges from autobiographies to classics, from fiction to reality and from politics to physics. The highlights perhaps are the limited editions of several famous autographed classics, though obviously not for sale. The only problem is that it closes by 6 PM everyday.
4. Strand Bookstall, Manipal Centre, Dickenson Road
Another very popular place is Strand, a sister concern of the main store at Mumbai. It’s a relatively new setup as compared to the other three stores but has drawn a loyal fan following in the last one decade or so. Apart from having all the positives associated with GBG, Higgins and Select, it’s USP is its layout. One can spend hours together here reading books in peace without being disturbed. Strand is inclined more towards the “Intelligentsia” and does not stock stationery, textbooks and technical books. Just as in Mumbai, Strand at B’lore too has an annual book fair towards the end of the year where great books can be bought at rockbottom prices. Incidentally, the founder of Strand Bookstall in Mumbai, Mr. Shanbagh was honoured with the Padma Bhushan this year for his immense contribution to the society.
5. Premier Bookstore, Church Street
Unfortunately, I couldn’t check this one out on my recent visit. I last walked through its baulking doors two years ago. From the moment one enters the shop, the strong smell of books wafts into one’s nostrils. The variety available is on par with Gangaram’s, but one shouldn’t be surprised to see the immensely tall piles of books stacked one on top of another. Obviously, there’s a space constraint here but it doesn’t deter booklovers in any way. Once you get used to the precariously swaying structures of books, the place exudes the air of a place you’ve known for eons. A store from where one can’t emerge without buying a book.
Thus Spake TiC
My other favourite bookstores are “Sankar’s, The Book People” (St. Marks Road), LB Publishers (MG Road again) and Sapna (Gandhinagar) but the space constraints imposed by MS and the stringent rating norms of its discerning members dissuade me from covering more than 5 bookstores.
Each of the above-mentioned stores are among the best in the country with each having a USP of its own. While one has a proprietor who loves books more than anything else, another makes the customers feel totally at ease and even remembers the names of the regular customers. Which asinine bookworm would not love to visit such customer-centric stores over and again?
Books of all kinds are precious commodities in a developing country where literacy is still abysmally low. In such a scenario, it’s a tribute to these outstanding bookstores and their founders that they have sincerely tried to imbibe good reading habits among the society.
Books perform multiple functions. They can tickle, they make you cry, they make you break out in laughter and put you through a hundred other emotions. Thousands of great writers over the centuries have churned out masterpieces but all their efforts would have gone down the drain but for the bookstores that stock these books and encourage the societal audience to pore through their engrossing pages.
I only wish that these great “institutions” continue to thrive and enthrall generations of booklovers for centuries to come.
