‘‘A book lover can travel the boundaries world over without moving an inch"
Picture this: books occupying almost every inch of the space available along the pedestrian on a stretch of more than 2 Kms on a Sunday afternoon simply makes for a visit from a booklover worth his salt. This is only one of its kind you can imagine or experience no matter how well you are travelled. The bizarre setting of the shops transcends you to a similar ecstasy that of a Kasbah in elegant landscapes of Morocco. The vendors are desperately trying to hand you almost whatever you ask for be it a preparatory rhyme or a book for the human anatomy, with a feigned perfection of that of a master librarian. Ask for a Jane Eyre and he will promptly hands you the hardcover classic from a 1960 publication and that too for just 100 bucks at maximum so that you just bite your tongue in sweet dismay of the unbelievable amount you just paid for a masterpiece. This is nowhere but the Old book Bazaar, daryaganj in picture for real long time now and though the times have battered the streets local administration plays mooted on the apathy of this landmark.
For a first time visitor this is a different place altogether, with a tonnes of stacks of books scattered onto the ground in makeshift columns as they practically begged us to be bought and land out of the misery. Bookstalls too busy churning out the books at any rate is equipped with experienced people of significant amount of titles and the reading trends. Just a curious eye and you can spot numbers of volumes ever printed and that again on an unbelievably small price.
The Sunday mornings here are bustling with activities of shoppers and bookies pitching in from different parts of the world digging for a title or two .Generic crowds here is common to spot going for anything that’s classy and old. I spotted some of the sepia tinted hard bound novels, rare works of all timers like Thackeray, Shakespeare, Milton, and Dickens lay on the sidewalk in a silence as if they were shouting for attention that was already theirs. I bought John Keats- the complete collection of the poems, Karl Marx, Thackeray, and it was a sense of possession of a great value. And adding to that it set free the volumes off the century old dust and dampness of a hush corner. The cover, pages and the hard bindings makes them for the breathless beauty they are only to be stocked in the library of great care an importance.
I, first, had been there at the age 15 for my textbooks with a cousin who always bombarded my imagination with idea of modest pricing and most of all the great titles. I said “OK so when I get to set up my own library I’’ put the name s of this place in my frames”. At that time I only walked these streets fir my texts or some random stuffs that are abundantly available on the streets there (mind you there is much more to explore there).
Some old faces whom I practically have memorized still sells the same thing and once I get to interview a guy, a newcomer to the scene, only of 15 named Ali casually asking him originally used classics and he was suddenly got more interested cutting me short “i don’t have these titles right now but if you confirm me the details the next time you visit here I’ll surely help with that” said he. But that clearly was for business adding to the details prices will be altered for the exclusive titles. And I am looking forward to hand him my list the next time I visit the place.
To buy or just to unwind at my own ease I come here whenever I can it sets me free from this society that is increasingly being intolerably hypocritical and let me be me, then I go back and being a part of the circle having no ends.
Picture this: books occupying almost every inch of the space available along the pedestrian on a stretch of more than 2 Kms on a Sunday afternoon simply makes for a visit from a booklover worth his salt. This is only one of its kind you can imagine or experience no matter how well you are travelled. The bizarre setting of the shops transcends you to a similar ecstasy that of a Kasbah in elegant landscapes of Morocco. The vendors are desperately trying to hand you almost whatever you ask for be it a preparatory rhyme or a book for the human anatomy, with a feigned perfection of that of a master librarian. Ask for a Jane Eyre and he will promptly hands you the hardcover classic from a 1960 publication and that too for just 100 bucks at maximum so that you just bite your tongue in sweet dismay of the unbelievable amount you just paid for a masterpiece. This is nowhere but the Old book Bazaar, daryaganj in picture for real long time now and though the times have battered the streets local administration plays mooted on the apathy of this landmark.
For a first time visitor this is a different place altogether, with a tonnes of stacks of books scattered onto the ground in makeshift columns as they practically begged us to be bought and land out of the misery. Bookstalls too busy churning out the books at any rate is equipped with experienced people of significant amount of titles and the reading trends. Just a curious eye and you can spot numbers of volumes ever printed and that again on an unbelievably small price.
The Sunday mornings here are bustling with activities of shoppers and bookies pitching in from different parts of the world digging for a title or two .Generic crowds here is common to spot going for anything that’s classy and old. I spotted some of the sepia tinted hard bound novels, rare works of all timers like Thackeray, Shakespeare, Milton, and Dickens lay on the sidewalk in a silence as if they were shouting for attention that was already theirs. I bought John Keats- the complete collection of the poems, Karl Marx, Thackeray, and it was a sense of possession of a great value. And adding to that it set free the volumes off the century old dust and dampness of a hush corner. The cover, pages and the hard bindings makes them for the breathless beauty they are only to be stocked in the library of great care an importance.
I, first, had been there at the age 15 for my textbooks with a cousin who always bombarded my imagination with idea of modest pricing and most of all the great titles. I said “OK so when I get to set up my own library I’’ put the name s of this place in my frames”. At that time I only walked these streets fir my texts or some random stuffs that are abundantly available on the streets there (mind you there is much more to explore there).
Some old faces whom I practically have memorized still sells the same thing and once I get to interview a guy, a newcomer to the scene, only of 15 named Ali casually asking him originally used classics and he was suddenly got more interested cutting me short “i don’t have these titles right now but if you confirm me the details the next time you visit here I’ll surely help with that” said he. But that clearly was for business adding to the details prices will be altered for the exclusive titles. And I am looking forward to hand him my list the next time I visit the place.
To buy or just to unwind at my own ease I come here whenever I can it sets me free from this society that is increasingly being intolerably hypocritical and let me be me, then I go back and being a part of the circle having no ends.
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