Yet Another Iconic City Book Store To Shut Shop!

September 6, 2017

‘A bookstore is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking’ – Jerry Seinfeld

Since the fifth grade, Eeshita Chinmulgund has been visiting Book World with her father. It was almost a ritual amongst the two of them. Later, as a student at Fergusson College, she would drag her friends along and they would spend hours skimming through books on a lazy Saturday afternoon. “I’ve spent a major part of my life in Book World. I was even there on Valentine’s Day picking a book to read! This store is the reason why I started reading. I picked my first Princess Diaries book here and started reading literary fiction as I grew up.”

By the end of this year, Pune will lose yet another book store that is close to several hearts. Book World on FC Road is mostly known for being ‘that basement book shop’ where children, college students and adults would flock to buy second-hand or new releases in fiction, non-fiction, comics and much more.

It was started in 1996 by Narendra Chandan, 51, who has for long been wanting to shut down the store after the iconic book store, Manney’s, shut down in 2012. “I have been selling books for the last 30 years. My father had a raddi business but I helped convert that into a book business. Once e-commerce sites came about, I knew that shutting down was inevitable. Day by day, customers dropped. When we started, there were no devices and no kindle to read books on. Books were a part of a big trend years back,” explains Chandan, who is now offering a 25 to 70 per cent discount on new and second-hand books.

Entrance of Book World, source: Eeshita Chinmulgund

Local book stores in India are shutting down in an almost chain-reaction fashion.. Book World had shut down in 2013 but Chandan decided to reopen it thanks to his customers support. “We have gained so much love and support from this venture. But the future doesn’t look very bright. The competition is too much. Many people come to the store, see a book but buy it online instead. E-commerce sites are offering high discounts and it is easier for the customer to buy without having to move an inch.”

Even though the internet is constantly changing people’s reading habits, the numbers of people reading in print has only increased. Readers are taking far more pleasure in owning a physical copy rather than a digital one. But this trend isn’t benefiting local bookstores as many continue to buy online. “I don’t understand e-commerce sites. There is no emotional connect in ordering a book online. I remember picking up a second-hand book and reading a note the previous owner had written in it. The feeling was surreal because I was reading from the exact same copy. When I was a child, I would sneak to the adult section with my friends and we would giggle over what we saw. This is where we made our memories,” says Chinmulgund.

At Book World, you can find a host of books by writers like Edward Said, Jean Giono, Albert Camus, Urvashi Butalia along with the best-selling authors in fiction – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Sudha Murthy, Haruki Murakami and many more. Including classics, you can also find different decks of tarot cards for sale too. “Even if you want a book that isn’t up on Amazon or Flipkart, I can make it available for you,” states Chandan.

He knows that this store sees no growth in the future and will probably give the space for rent once it shuts, “Many have told me not to shut the store but I wonder why I should keep it open.

Will the next generation even be interested in something like this?”