The end came with a WhatsApp message to its patrons. “Dear treasured customers, we're sad to bid farewell to our book collection as we've decided to pivot our business focus. We know how much books meant to you, and we're grateful for the memories,” the message from Srinagar’s iconic bookshop, Bestseller, read. “Thank you for being part of our literary journey.” On April 19, 'Bestseller’, brought down the shutters after five decades of being in business, all due to the dwindling reading habit and fierce competition from the e-commerce industry. A quaint bookshop tucked away in one corner of Lal Chowk, Bestseller was known for its rare collection of English and Urdu classics. “It wasn't an easy decision but we had to take it,” 32-year-old Mohammad Saniyasnain, whose father Sonaullah Chiloo opened the store back in 1985, tells The Indian Express. “Over the last few years, our sales had been down by nearly 80 percent.” When he started, Sonaullah Chiloo turned a provision store on the ground floor just outside Srinagar's first missionary school, Tyndale Biscoe, into a bookshop with one intention – to inculcate the reading habit in Kashmir’s young minds. Although it started with local books published in Kashmiri and Urdu, Chiloo eventually expanded into another territory – classics, both in Urdu and English. To help encourage reading, he would offer discounts, personally helping customers navigate piles and piles of books by offering his suggestions. To school children, he would offer books on credit. Slowly, the shop began to have its own regulars. “The original owner of the bookstore (Sonaullah Chiloo) was a rich man who was passionate about the books. That's why he preferred to open a bookstore,” says a senior police officer, who was a regular visitor to the bookstore. "What was unique about this place was that it had all types of books. If you ever looked for some controversial book or books by controversial authors, it was the only place to go.” When his son Mohammad Saniyasnain, who has a Masters in Business Administration degree, took over in 2016, the shop as already on somewhat shaky ground, although it navigated the long periods of curfews and shutdowns, the five months of shutdown in the Valley following the abrogation of Article 370 and eventually the shake up caused by the COVID pandemic forced a rethink. But it was e-commerce that sounded the death knell. “We just couldn’t compete. We can't offer the discounts that Flipkart or Amazon offers. Then our customers had to pay Rs 50 for parking his vehicle, or a fine of Rs 1,000," he says. "Why would anybody come to us when he can get the book delivered at home without a hassle? I also think the new generation is not inclined towards book reading.” But despite these setbacks, Saniyasnain tried newer methods to keep the bookshop alive – first bringing it to social media platforms and then, following reader feedback, expanding its collection to include bestsellers from across the world. However, nothing appeared to work – the shop continued to see an attrition of customers. As a last-ditch attempt to salvage the shop, Saniyasnain started the 'Books by Kilos' initiative, selling books by the kilo to reach a larger audience. "There was some buzz for two or three weeks after the initiative," Saniyasnain says. "But soon, it died down, and only our regular customers visited after that". Legislator Waheed Para, who counted himself among the bookshop’s patrons, believes that e-commerce has affected every industry, severely affecting brick-and-mortar shops such as ‘Bestseller’ "It is really sad but I don't think that the book reading culture has declined in the Valley," says Para. " People surf through the net in the evenings at home, order a book at a discounted price that is delivered to his home". With his shop now shuttered forever, Saniyasnain must look for other avenues to earn his livelihood. “Could something related to tourism be a way out?” he wonders.
