Unless you are a pedestrian or are stuck in heavy traffic near the Koramanagala 6th block junction next to the Post Office you are sure to miss it. Hiding in plain sight at the entrance of 5th cross road is a book fair that is on for the whole year round like it has been for the past eight years! The books run into lakhs, said owner Mr Annur Basha after a short head-scratching session of trying to figure out the exact number.
Two copies of The Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden lay side by side at the entrance of the inner part of the shop, in different shades. Mr Pasha explains that one is a new book while the other is a second hand one. Other than the shade of the covers which were sparkling white and coffee brown respectively, both the copies were in good condition. “Don’t judge the book by its cover,” he reminds gently, “The books at the fair are a mix of brand new and second hand, but we try to make sure none of the pages are missing or they are torn in between. It is every reader’s nightmare.”
The collection of books ranges from Ripley’s Believe It or Not, the first few books of the Goosebumps series by RL Stine, Tinkle and Archie comics collector editions, an array of Danielle Steel, Wilbur Smith, Jeffery Archer, Paulo Coelho, Mills and Boons series amongst others to health and wellness books, self help reads, travel guides and children’s books like CS Lewis’s works and Dora the Explorer. A copy of the 169th volume of the National Geographic Journal from 1986 in hardcover lay on the bench alongside Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and a copy of Carolyn Keene’s Nancy Drew. Classics like David Copperfield by Charles Dickens and works of Emily Bronte were also seen. Some of the books even have personalized notes from the previous owners.
The second hand books are priced from a sum of fifty rupees and go up to a Rs 199. There are also offers like buy three for one ninety nine and a section where one can pick any for ninety nine rupees.
Originally called Gift Books when they first started, the book fair does not have a formal name even after two years short of a decade. “We didn’t expect to settle down here, but we loved the city and we just did. We somehow never came around to naming it officially,” he explains nostalgically. Pasha, along with his brother would organize book fairs that traveled in most parts of southern India. He describes it as the “royal gypsy life” that made life meaningful. After about 30 years of doing so, age got to him, says the 54-year-old and laughs, and that he realized that it was time to settle down. “We had just come to the city after a successful book fair in Coimbatore. We found this space and it seemed good enough so we took it. My bones had also just started rotting.” His brother however went back to Chennai, their hometown, and opened a book store similar to this one there.
Though the sales aren’t as much as they used to be, Bengaluru especially Koramangala has voracious readers. “One month worth of sales today was our sales in a week about ten years ago. But what gives me hope is that we are still here and still afloat which indicates the amount of readers we get. Also personally, I think the death of the Compact Disc was a boon to books.”
“This place is a treasure literally. If you live around southern Bengaluru and don’t have time to brave traffic to MG Road, this could be a great alternative,” said Ramesh Shivaranjan, who was browsing at the store, “and the prices are gold and the variety is vast for any book lover!”
