Among the first thing I notice afterdescending the steps that lead to the Indian Book Shelf are the two sofas rightin the centre of the shop, and the colourful little box seats strewn all over.The mood is that of a friendly reading room and I’m momentarily confused.
"Do you have a library facility as well?" I ask Anil Varma, one of thecompany directors. He smiles, he’s been asked this before. "No, we onlysell—but unlike some other shops we also encourage people to come in, lookaround, read on the premises if they want to. It doesn’t matter if theydon’t end up buying anything." Varma’s point is that with reading alreadybeing such a niche activity, book stores must do what they can to make potentialcustomers feel welcome—not scare them away by having shop attendantsscrutinising their every move. But then, it’s easy to see why the owners ofthis particular shop are so keen to nurture and encourage book-lovers: theIndian Book Shelf is almost certainly the only shop of its size in Delhi that isdedicated to the sale of books in Indian languages.
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The shop began life as the Hindi Book Centre (a name it is still widely knownby) around 40 years ago; it was opened by Star Publications mainly as a salesoutlet for its Hindi pocket books. "But soon after, we started stocking andselling Hindi books by other publishers too," says Varma, "and last year weturned multi-lingual and changed the name." Hindi is still, of course, thepredominant language—they have over 1,50,000 Hindi titles—but Indian BookShelf now also stocks books in Bengali, Urdu, Punjabi, Marathi, Telugu, Tamiland Malayalam.
Walking around the store, it’s easy to see that the arrangement of titles is alot more systematic than it is in the token Hindi sections one finds in someEnglish book shops. Here, the books are classified by language and genre (poems,fiction, biographies, plays, humour, even "Dalit Sahitya"), arrangedalphabetically and computer-catalogued as well for easy reference, in both theDevnagari and the Roman scripts. What isn’t immediately available on thepremises can be sourced. "We are in touch with over 500 vernacular-languagepublishers all over India," Varma says, "and we make sure to get copies ofevery new title they publish, or at least to stay abreast of theircatalogues."
A separate room within the shop is dedicated to titles that were publishedbefore 1985. "Many of these books are out of print," says Varma, "and weoffer a 50 per cent discount on them." This section is a little less organisedthan the rest of the shop, the books a little worse for wear, but this doesn’tseem to matter to customers who spend hours wading through the piles in searchfor that one little treasure.
Daryaganj, where the shop is located, has traditionally been a bastion ofpublishing activity in Indian languages. But it’s a surprise to learn thatIndian Book Shelf now also has an outlet in—of all places—a Gurgaon mall(the Mega Mall, DLF City Phase IV), where Bengali and Hindi books are doing verywell.
The shop has a London branch too, which Varma claims is "the only bookshop inthe UK that is completely dedicated to Indian-language publications".Incidentally, foreign tourists trying to learn Indian languages are among themost regular visitors to the Delhi branch. "They often place orders with us,since we have a facility for shipping books to other countries," says Varma.
Where 4/5 B, Asaf Ali Road. Call 23286757 / 23274874
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Sahitya Akademi
The Sahitya Akademi also retails its own publications at its Mandir Margoffice. The Akademi stocks over 5,000 books in most of the Indian languages,though Hindi and English titles jointly account for 66 per cent of its sales.According to Rakesh Sharma, deputy secretary (sales), Bengali, Malayalam andTamil are the next most popular languages with 5 per cent each, followed byMarathi, Urdu and Punjabi with 3 per cent each. The Akademi also arranges around70-80 exhibitions of vernacular literature yearly, in various parts of thecountry.
Where Mandir Marg Call 23745297, 23364207
Beyond the Language Barriers
Though there are a few other shops in town that stock books in regionalIndian languages, their collections are not very impressive or exhaustive.
In fact, the Indian Book Shelf is the principal source for most of the city’sother book stores that stock a few Indian-language titles.
You can visit the Asian Book Centre (Call 26518359) located in the BerSarai Shopping Complex. The Sree Rama Electronics Shop in Munirka (4-5, NathuSingh Market) is another store where Tamil titles are available.
However, unfortunately for the lovers of vernacular literature in the Capital,these book shops are few and far between, and usually relegate non-English booksto a small space in some corner of the store.
This article originally appeared in Outlook Delhi City Limits, May 15 2006.
