Nestled in a small corner of a lane in Santacruz East, Kamlesh Bookstore might seem like any other book shop in the city, that is until you walk up to the store’s dusty shelves and discover old, hard-bound editions of classic gems. This writer has long shared a deep fascination for second-hand books, and in a world of flashy, curated bookstores, this little space catches our eye.

We walk in on a quiet weekday afternoon, when the street is still busy with traffic. The small store is squeezed between a popular snack joint and an electronics shop, pushed back from the vehicular rush of the lane. “We used to have a shop in the book street near Flora Fountain. But we had to relocate in 2003. The competition for a space to set up a book stall in that neighbourhood was tough in those days,” Akhilesh Kamlesh, the second-generation owner of the store explains.