Bye Bye Bookshop

The street-side (curb side) bookshops are iconic in India’s print industry. You normally find two types of such book shops: the ones that sell daily/periodical material like news papers, weeklies and other magazines; the ones that sell (often pirated or used) books on the curb side.

For more than six years after I relocated to India, one single book store (of the first kind) primarily served my newspaper and magazine purchases in Hyderabad. This is the one at S. R. Nagar circle off Umesh Chandra statue. Today is the last day of that book store, because their lease is expiring and they are not renewed.

This shop is so convenient for me that I used to go there by bicycle or scooter. The best part is that there are no traffic signals in either route from home. About five times a week (when I am in town) I used to go to this store to purchase print materials. I am a very regular early morning customer for them. Going there is as regular as my morning glass of chocolate milk.

I am going to miss this shop from tomorrow. The friendly smile of the shop owner, his 6.00am activity in that block and the occasional exchange of his concerns and pains. All of them. Interestingly, I don’t know his name and he doesn’t know mine. We always greeted each other with a smile. I am going to miss him. Bye Bye!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top