Till a decade back, bulky and glossy imported books could be seen only at the reference section of the huge library in far away Madurai Kamaraj University. There were a few at the Central Library at Simmakkal, but the titles were limited in both the places.
Nowadays, not only are they freely available at book fairs the city hosts frequently but sold at throwaway prices too. And the variety of books on sale is staggering. From popular encyclopaedias, chicken soup series and Reader’s Digest collections to books on cookery, travel, sports, gardening … there is one for everybody in the family. The fiction collection is as mindboggling as the heavy non-fiction coffee-table books – David Attenborough, Michael Palin and Courtney Walsh have the company of Lawrence Sanders and Enid Blyton and hundreds of names you’ve never heard of.
In this virtual world of Amazon, Flipkart and Kindle, are there still takers for these books? Yes, says V. Sridhar of Om Sakthi Books International from Chennai, who conducts book fairs regularly in Madurai. “Only those who never read say reading habit is dead; book lovers continue reading whether young or old,” he says.
Though Madurai is not known for its love for books when compared to other cities in the State, there are hardcore readers who regularly buy a lot and sustain this business, he says.
One such reader, Syed Bashutheen, an ENT specialist, says he adds a lot to his personal collection from the imported book fairs. Another reader, E. Seshaguru (82), hires a cab from Rajapalayam, stays for two days in Madurai for the sake of buying books whenever there is a fair in the city. These are voracious readers who know the value of books they buy.
Search for it
According to C.S. Rabindranath of Book Choice, a Madurai-based imported bookseller, real readers never bargain, they know the book’s worth.
“We don’t believe in the massive discount baits and fool the buyers but prefer offers along with the usual discounts. A thorough search of the wide collection will lead to gems. And sometimes they don’t come cheap,” he says, and adds one can even stumble on an out-of-print book which cannot be ordered online.
S. Thirunavukkarasu, Manager of Book Choice, who was with Sarvodaya Ilakkiya Pannai near Periyar bus stand for 40 years, says whenever visitors come in families, they have a good sale. Everybody in the family, especially children, buy books of their choice. Some enthusiastic parents even ask whether they stock books for 2 to 3 year olds, he says.
Mr. Rabindranath says book lovers go wherever these fairs are hosted, be it Karaikudi or Kodaikanal.
Mr. Sridhar, who offered a 20 per cent discount on children’s books on Saturday for World Children’s Book Day, the birth anniversary of Hans Christian Anderson, offers another offer on April 23, World Books Day.
Old books as gift
He says in England, from where he buys books in bulk, second-hand books are given as gifts. “In the west, people don’t get offended on receiving such a gift. In fact, Rap, a second-hand books warehouse in London, sells 25,000 books a day, through online as well, during Christmas season and 15,000 books a day the rest of the year,” Mr. Sridhar says.
He makes a trip to London once or twice a year to buy books.
