“You cannot miss the shop, I am right next to Villivakkam station,” says S. Lingaraj in Tamil to a caller seeking directions. I am not surprised when he says he gets many calls a day from customers seeking directions to his new shop.
Lingaraj is a familiar face to many residents of Anna Nagar. Until last year, his second hand book store on the pavement at Blue Star drew many customers, a majority of them being college students.
He had to shift his business due to Chennai Metrorail work on the stretch. But, Lingaraj is a happy man, many of his old customers continue to visit him at his shop in Villivakkam.
“I have not lost my customers; people trace me down,” he says to a question whether the shift has affected his business.
Apart from his wide collection of engineering, medical, school and general knowledge books, guides, and novels, Lingaraj has been famous because he is the only pavement book seller at Blue Star. Upon demand, he supplies new books at reduced price.
Lingaraj says he cannot find himself doing anything else. He works from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. and even on Sundays. He reads during his free time, especially Tamil literature, and speaks a smattering of English.
As I am about to leave, his shop was swarming with children and college students giving him a list of books. I left him to do his business and watched him disappear into the alley of books.
He can be reached at 9962101244
