Rambhai could regale you with stories. For instance: how he’d planned to open the bookstore on February 1, 1948, but had to postpone it by two weeks because of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination, or how he had drawn inspiration from his uncle who had bookshops in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Shimla. The fine all-wood store oozing warmth has been witness to several illustrious writers such VS Naipaul, Vikram Seth, Ruskin Bond, Bertrand Russell or Rose Llewellyn Jones. Even Jawaharlal Nehru and Dr Govind Ballabh Pant were taken in by his magnetic presence. Every time I’ve visited the bookstore, I’ve made it a point to record my impressions in the legendary old visitor’s notebook, on Rambhai’s insistence. It was a combination of a keen eye for detail, empathy and a deep-seated curiosity about current affairs that set Rambhai apart from others in the world of knowledge.