Dog eared paperbacks, dusty
tomes, crumpled magazines, the smell of dust and old paper. A horde of
customers browsing among the stacks for a trashy novel or a classic; a school
kid trying to find a previous year question bank, a college fellow tries to save
a few bucks and among them the vendors trying to pull you in to their shops. In
all the cities I have lived or visited, I had found a street where at least one
footpath has been invaded by the mongers of literature. They haggle and coax us
into buying our choice of poison, and we misers bargain teeth and nail to bring
the price down a notch more even though we are getting it for a steal. I am
sure you now understand the topic my today’s rambling – ‘The Second Hand
Bookstore’
I contracted the book addiction
back in 1995 in my fifth grade and within a couple years, I exhausted the tiny
little library of our tiny little school. Okey I may not have read everything
in there but I am pretty sure that I had read everything I found interesting
back then. Hardy boys, Famous Five, Nancy Drew, couple of 007’s, a tone of
Astrix, Tintin and also the occasional Mills & Boon. Once the source dried
up, I was desperate to find more dope, in this case books. I remember vaguely the
books displayed below a sprawling tree somewhere in the city. I knew it was near
the Palayam mosque and with a bit of subtle investigation I found out the
location. I emptied out my stash of bucks, called a friend along and set out to
the big bad world on a growling and puffing KSRTC. We reached the literature street with out
incident and it opened to us not just a plethora of authors and titles but also
introduced to us the glossy page center spread of P Andersen and co, Boy meet
the world !
We returned religious to the
vendors, bargained and always bought the books/magazines at the price quoted by
the sellers. We morons were thoroughly ripped by them but still we went back
with more cash clutched in sweaty palms and cheap fake leather wallets. The
raging hormones may have played a role in directing us there but each time we
went there, we came back with more books than cheap porn magazines. Slowly the
habit of reading took root in me and the role played by the second hand stores
was pivotal. Trivandrum have many proper book stores like DC, Pen, Continental
etc but they burn through your savings like vitriol. We also had two huge libraries,
The Victoria memorial & erstwhile British library but the books rented from
there always felt alien to me, for the greatest pleasure for me is to write my
name on the back side of the cover page when I start reading a book and was not
possible with a rented book. Hence the seconds store became my Holy land.
Over the years the book vendors
had to relocate to the Ayruveda College Junction, AKG center junction, Pattom
etc when the authorities chased them off in the name of development agenda. All
the purpose it served was the sellers and their kids went hungry to bed while
the readers went to bed where sleep eluded them. No development or such ever
happened. Finally the folks settled down at the present location, next to the
Public library, the most apt location. They still regularly gets final warnings
and threats by so called authorities to pack their bags and GTFO, but still to
all our glee, the trade goes on. A few of the sellers had scattered across the
city and now displays their wares at Pattom and Ayruveda College Junction but
the majority still sells at the serene Library junction where culture, history
and literature amalgamates.
I still visit them every month
and buys 4-5 books and over the years have developed my personal library, a
possession that I am proud of. More than the trophies that I can exhibit, those
books signify the milestones that I have passed in each year of my reading
journey. My sincere thanks to all the good folks at the Second hand stores for providing
the hundreds like myself with this opportunity. And a few word to those who propose
to vacate the stores and develop the area, I quote Barnabas Collins
‘I have already prepared my
counter-proposal. It reads thusly: You may strategically place your wonderful
lips upon my posterior and kiss it repeatedly!’
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