Shelf Life

Apart from Manneys,International Bookstore and Popular Book House are the two prominent bookstores in Pune. But the recent years have seen these shops’ trade trickle. In the past two years,about 20 to 25 per cent sale at the International Bookstore,perhaps the oldest in the city,has gone down. “Nowadays nobody wants to come out and explore books,they prefer them delivered at their doorstep. Plus they get such heavy discounts,” says Upendra Dixit,proprietor of the International Bookstore. Dixit’s father Late V M Dixit had started the bookstore in the year 1931. The footfall,according to Dixit,has reduced radically and except for a few loyal clients,he hardly finds new faces visiting the shop. He complains that it is only independent bookstores that are suffering in the recent period. “The publishers to the book pirates,all are doing fine but us,” says Dixit.

Few meters ahead of International stands the Popular Book House on Karve Road. “Online bookstore is a very recent phenomena. Earlier we had to struggle against the pirated books that one might find at every corner of the road,” says Sunil Gadgil,the owner of the bookshop,which has been running since the year 1954.

Though the city has several chain bookstores like Crosswords and Landmark,however these independent bookstores are quite unique of its kind. “We are what is called shelf-and-ladder bookstores and we don’t sell DVDs or have coffee shops. We trade only in books,” says Dixit.

While International Book Service looks more like a sinking ship,Popular Book House wears enthusiasm. “We’re taking it as a challenge and are planning to launch our own online bookstore. Moreover we have a library alongside the bookstore and we also have a faithful clientele,” says Gadgil.

In case of International Bookstore,the fate is quite similar to that of Manneys – the problem of taking over the business. Commenting on the predicament Dixit says,“I am 73-year-old and my children are busy in their own professions. They have no interest in this business but I don’t want to shut it down.” Whatever be the approach to the future,the unanimous lament of all the booksellers is that the younger generations have lost the lust to handle the crisp pages and smell the books before buying them.

Infact,in a letter to Indira Gandhi,Jawaharlal Nehru had recommended her daughter the International bookstore,which according to him was a rare gem. A rendition of the letter now hangs like a forgotten war hero on the wall of the bookstore. But with the new tide perhaps the gem lacks the luster of the yesteryear and as the author of American Gods,Neil Gaiman says,“a town isn’t a town without a bookstore”,Pune too needs to revisit and reconsider these obscure treasures once again.