I have loved reading books since childhood: South Mumbai bookseller

His innate love for reading led him to establish a bookshop in the heart of South Mumbai Damji Nissar a 60yearold bibliophile has been into book trading for the past 24 years His shop located near CST railway station is home to all voracious readersNissar is not the only one in his shop who loves to read Sushma Vasant Tate a cheerful woman in her mid30s working as a salesperson at the shop for the past 12 years is also obsessed with readingAs a part of our fortnightly series lsquoShelfLifersquo which explores the reading culture in Mumbai Midday Online chose to discover Ashish Book CentreNissar established the Ashish Book Centre in 1999 Before this he worked at another bookstore as a salesperson from 1980Originally from Mumbai Nissar who has studied till grade nine says ldquoI love reading I have enjoyed reading books since my childhood My school used to provide numerous books that I used to take home to read I grew up reading books like Champak and ChandamamardquoWhile English is not his strongest suit Nissar picks up translated copies of several books He mostly enjoys reading mythological and motivational books Currently Nissar is reading lsquoPsychology of Moneyrsquo by Morgan HouselIt was because of his school library that Nissar developed a penchant for reading Recognising the role a school library plays in encouraging students to read books Nissar besides selling books to customers also helps many schools in Mumbai to set up a library by supplying booksSushma who can be rightly called Nissarrsquos right hand at Ashish Book Centre loves reading fiction novels The best part about working at the store is getting to read numerous books from time to time While she also enjoys reading motivational books she says such books are to be read in complete silence without any disturbance ndash something that is impossible at the store since it is always bustling with fellow bibliophilesSushma has completed her education in engineering On being asked why she chooses to work at a bookstore she expresses ldquoBooks truly made me happy I had joined the store some 12 years back temporarily However identifying my love towards reading sir Nissar insisted I work for the storerdquo ldquoHe even offered me a lucrative salary packagerdquo jokes SushmaSushma loves to lose herself in reading ldquoMy family members quarrel with me for reading so much I get so lost reading that I forget to finish domestic chores on some daysrdquo Attending one of the customers at the store this bookworm asks the writer ldquoMarsquoam have you read lsquoNot Without My Daughterrsquo by Betty Mahmoody Please do I feel every woman should I also love lsquoThe Kite Runnerrsquo by Khaled Hosseini I can read it over and over again and yet not have enough of itrdquo she goes onlsquoMore people read books in Mumbai as compared to other citiesrsquoAshish Book Centre houses more than 50000 books in the store alone Their warehouse is situated in the same building as the store and has a huge stock of books Here you can get fresh as well as secondhand copies Around 10000 books are sold at just Rs 100 with exciting discounts being offered on other books ranging from 20 per cent to 80 per cent discount depending on the bookAt Ashish Book Centre a customer hardly leaves without a book in hand Photo Courtesy Aakanksha AhireBesides this Ashish Book Centre also organises book fairs six times a year in cities like Mumbai Thane Ahmedabad and Baroda This helps Nissar to reach out to more readers and drive sales When asked about which city sees the highest number of sales Nissar says Mumbai ldquoIts not that people outside Mumbai donrsquot like reading We get a good amount of sales from other cities as well lekin Bombay Bombay hai Mumbai is Mumbai people of Mumbai read books morerdquoOne of their book fairs is going on right now at Thane and will be open for bibliophiles till January 7 2024 They are also offering up to 85 per cent discount One can check it out between 945 am to 900 pm on any day they find convenientThe price at which books are sold at this bookshop is especially convenient for all college students Given the fact that most colleges like HR Jaihind KC Sydenham Xavierrsquos as well as the Government Law College are situated in South Mumbai helps Ashish Book Centre attract more young customers Besides South Mumbai itself is a prime location in the city that works in the best interest of any store located hereSurviving competition from online sale of booksAlthough Nissar enjoys the location of his brickandmortar store he faces tough competition from the digital world ldquoWe cannot overlook or deny the competition of the online world There is more competition on the online platform than from the bookstore that is located right next to my storerdquo He confesses that sales are being affected due to ecommerce platforms that sell books at a considerably lower rateTo counter this Nissar has jumped on the bandwagon selling books online as well Now he says ldquoMy sales are divided in half I get 50 per cent of my sales from the shop and 50 per cent from the ecommerce site on which I have put the book on salerdquoOn the contrary he believes that ebooks are a complete failure ldquoAgreed that ebooks are lightweight offer a onestop shop for books from within the confines of your home and easy to carry anywhere but there are hardly any people buying it Yeh ebooks sab fail gayardquo says this book traderOn an additional note Nissar adds ldquoI donrsquot think the coming on ebooks or sale of books online has damaged the shoprsquos sale I think it is the people and the change in their life Today everyone is so busy working that they hardly find the time for themselves It is necessary to cut out some lsquomersquo time for yourself Besides people who truly love to read will find the time to no matter whatrdquoCovid19 pandemic helped people develop a reading habitBoth Nissar and Sushma opine that towards the end of the Covid19 pandemic the demand for books rose ldquoPeople got bored of watching movies and web series This is when they sought comfort in reading books even the youngrdquo says SushmaNissar is one of the few who feels his business was not impacted much due to the pandemic He says that even though there was a considerable drop in the sales during the pandemic the business bounced back to normalcy in no timeThe young are buying and reading more sharemarket and investmentrelated booksAshish Book Centre sees customers of all ages come to the store from old to young According to Shushma older people prefer reading biographies and political and economic books more Working adults like doctors and lawyers who visit the store usually go for motivational booksConcerning the taste of the young Sushma makes an interesting observation ldquoThe young generation seems to be more interested in reading about investments and finance A majority of young people that visit the store demand for books related to share marketsrdquoTwo individuals come looking for a book on share markets Photo Courtesy Aakanksha AhireWhile Sushma was sharing this interesting piece of information two young individuals walked in looking for a book on the share market who also won themselves a recommendation from Sushma to buy Psychology of Money As they departed Sushma jokes ldquoAaj kal sabko jaldi ameer banna hai these days people want to become rich quicklyrdquoThis is not to say that other classics have lost their charm That is impossible Evergreen authors like Jeffery Archer Dan Brown Sidney Sheldon and Agatha Christie will always continue to rule the hearts of readersThe bookshoprsquos loyal customers prefer to visit the storeOn a parting note Nissar urges all to buy books from the stores ldquoYes its far more convenient to place the book of your choice in the cart and make a purchase in just a few clicks but visiting the store scanning through a huge collection of books and interacting with fellow buyers and sellers is fun It is a part of the whole reading experience Ussi mai asli maza hai there is the real funrdquoShushma right helping her customer pick the right book Photo Courtesy Aakanksha AhireOld customers who have been buying books from the store visit the shop whenever they want to buy a new book While on her way out the writer sees an elderly woman ndash overweight escorted by her caretaker approach the shop Soon Sushma comes out of the store laying down a footstool for the patron to sit on and let her indulge in hunting her next read