Why this 50-year-old Mumbai bookstall-cum-library is worth exploring

"Earlier, every other person used to love reading books. This is not the case today," says the owner of Shree Maharashtra Book House and Library located in Mumbai's Dadar area. Being over 50 years old, this bookstall has witnessed how reading habits and preferences have changed over the years.

A scrap store turned into a bookstall
Jethalal Viseriyya initially opened a scrap store in which, besides trading waste material, he also sold a few novels. Shockingly, Viseriyya started making a sale of over 100 books per month. The 64-year-old saw a new opportunity here and chose to venture into a more decent line of work. In no time, the scrap store was converted into a full-fledged bookhouse. Under this, he started selling not just English novels, but Marathi novels, magazines as well as academic books. Visseriyya says, "We have had many customers, over a hundred per day, in the past."

He has been running this bookstore with his wife, Ashaben Viseriyya (56) by his side. Even today, you will find his better-half seated at the bookstall welcoming customers with a warm smile.

The duo, besides running the bookstall as a means to earn income, also enjoy reading from time to time. While they can't read English, they surely do read Gujarati religious books.

Recalling memories
The couple is happy on days when their oldest customers visit the stall to purchase books. "A 92-year-old senior citizen Dev has been our customer since day one. Now bedridden, he used to come down to the stall every day till a few months back. On some days he used to buy books and on others, he used to visit the stall only to have a good chat with me," says the stall owner. Both the men had developed a camaraderie over their chatter about literature.

Ashaben Viseriyya adds, "Besides talking about books and stories, Devji also spoke passionately about astrology and palmistry. He is a palmistry expert."

Other than this 92-year-old reader, there are many old customers who visit the stall and whose names the owners are not aware of. Viseriyya says, "We never felt the need to know our customers' names since we already shared a warm bond with them."

Challenges of running a bookstall
Although we have not lost our old customers, over the years, the number of new customers has declined. Many factors, Viseriyya says, are behind this. The rise in ebooks led to a fall in sales of books, a lack of space to store purchased books in the house, other easily accessible forms of entertainment like movies and web series became more engaging and an overall loss of interest in reading especially among the young are key reasons behind declining customers.

The way out
Nevertheless, to keep the stall afloat, the Viseriyya couple thought of a workable strategy to retain old as well as build new customers. The Shree Maharashtra Book House was made into a library. "It's been over 25 years now, since the start of the library system." Viseriyya says, "Starting the library helped us attract new customers. Now, it is not difficult to keep the stall running."

Explaining the library system that the stall follows, he says, "We rent out a book for Rs 200 and customers can keep it for as long as they want. After they return the book to us, we return Rs 100. This is mutually beneficial. We earn our profits and customers get to read the book of their choice."

Business during Covid times
Just like everyone, the Viseriyya family also suffered losses during the pandemic. In the first and second lockdowns, the stall was kept shut, however, Viseriyya says, "Our customers requested us to reopen the stall during the third wave of Covid-19 when the caseload was comparatively lower than the first and second wave. Responding to their request, we reopened the stall by following all Covid safety measures. Even during this time, we had at least five customers daily."

Most sold books at the bookstall
Viseriyya says, "Customers enjoy reading books by famous authors like Jeffrey Archer, Sidney Sheldon, Lee Child, and Stephen King. Youngsters hardly enjoy reading stories of young Indian authors. The only books by any Indian author that have worked well in the past are Chetan Bhagat's 'Five Point Someone', 'The 3 Mistakes Of My Life', and 'One Night At The Call Center'."

Since the bookstall is situated in a Maharashtrian locality, Marathi novels are also purchased by many. Presently, the stall has over 25-30 daily customers.

The successor of this 50-year-old bookstall
It is a common norm in India that any business of whatever kind is usually survived by the upcoming generation. The Viseriyya family is no exception. Chirag Viseriyya, a young adult who completed his schooling is now set to take on the store's operations in hand. Jethalal Viseryya says, "My son is literate, he also understands English. So if any English-speaking customers come in search of any specific books, Chirag easily helps them out by conversing in the language. Nowadays, he comes to the stall daily and contributes to selling books and connects with the customers."

The Viseriyya family owns a shop which is used to store books. Their stall is erected right outside this shop. With over 2 lakh books in storage, this book house opens at 10 am and shuts at 9 pm. For all those who love reading, this book house cum library is truly a treat worth exploring.

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