As a young boy, proprietor of Select Bookshop KKS Murthy remembers his father, KBK Rao, rushing to Bangalore from Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, where he was practising law just to get his hands on the latest bundle of books available at the auctioneer.
“A lot of British people were leaving their books behind in India when going back home. The books would be at Cohen Auctioneers and he would invariably buy the whole stock,” says Murthy, smiling at the memory.
Murthy, who turned 90 on June 23 (the occasion was commemorated with a sale of books priced at ₹90 and the cutting of a cake at his bookshop), looks very dapper as we settle down for a chat on the second floor of his book shop, off Brigade Road.
Sitting at his desk, surrounded by stacks of old books and other knick-knacks, Murthy says, “Following the death of my sister’s husband, my father decided to move to Bangalore to be near family. A man called Robertson, who had become friendly with my father, offered his garage on Museum Road to be used as a book shop. That’s how my father started Select Bookshop in 1945.”
The shop shifted to South Parade (present-day MG Road) before being set up at its present location in the early 80s.
Murthy, who worked in the aerospace division of HAL for 18 years, says that after he resigned, he travelled to the US, UK and France. He would go straight from the airport to the book shop, on the hunt for books that he could send back to his father.
He adds that when he was in the US, he would also send home dollars. Chuckling at the memory, he says that his father’s usual comment to his mother was, “Murthy is not sending books, he is sending dollars.”
- As KKS Murthy pulls out the visitor’s book, I see that the first entry made on July 15, 2001 is by celebrated author Ruskin Bond, “A privilege to inaugurate this Visitor’s Book. Forty years since first visiting Select Bookshop!”
- Murthy is all smiles as he elaborates on his connection with the author. “Ruskin Bond happens to be our customer ever since he met my father. Recently, the two young people who help out here went to Mussoorie on my behalf to see him and he congratulated me on my birthday. In his book, Confessions of a Book Lover, there is a reference to book shops he loved. It is mentioned on the dust jacket – one in Shimla, one in London and the other is ‘The Select Bookshop of by Mr Rao and Mr Murthy’.”
As we talk, customers keep walking into the shop and Murthy makes it a point to greet them, ask them what they are looking for and recommends titles.
A young woman tells him, “I am interested in Philosophy. What would you suggest as a starter book?” “Bertrand Russell,” comes the reply.
Another young man has a conversation on Mathematics books before saying, “I wanted to bring my friends here.”
Even the newspaper photographer gets a recommendation. “We have a lot of photography books. Go take a look.”
An older man walks in with several books to sell. Murthy casts his eye over them, chooses all of them except for one. Handing over ₹1,000, he makes it clear that this is the amount he is willing to pay.
Karnataka Bengaluru 03/07/2019 KKS Murthy owner of Select book store on Brigade road in Bengaluru . Photo : Bhagya Prakash K / THE HINDU
Clearly a believer in the personal touch, Murthy is on hand every day from 12.30 pm to 6.30 pm. (on Sundays, it is 5.30 pm). Does he know all the books in his shop? “90% of them,” he says. And if you have been hunting for a particular book, just ask Murthy to source it for you. “My son, K Sanjay, does that. He goes book hunting every Sunday. Somehow or the other, either I or my son manage to get the book.”
“But some books I just don’t feel like selling,” he says, pulling out a green book, pages coming loose, titled Literary Blunders by HB Wheatley. “Even authors make mistakes!” he says.
He says that he has two or three sources, mostly in Delhi and Kolkata, that provide the books apart from book fairs where they go to buy and sell books.
The charm of the place remains intact but Select Book Shop too is moving ahead with the times, at least in terms of having an online presence. Since the last year, two young people, Debnath and Deblina, have been helping with that. Sanjay says, “The number of people visiting has come down in the last five to six years. So, having an online presence is a necessity in our case. It has definitely helped.”
Visit selectbookshop.com or email contact@select bookshop .com. You can also find the shop on Instagram and Facebook. Call 8722871223 or 8951157343.
