Why independent bookstores matter—and how you can support them

The pandemic upended an already struggling industry, but indie bookstores across the country are fighting back

“When I was five or six years old, Sunday mornings were always about going to Juhu Beach with my father, swimming in the sea, eating a huge cone of ice-cream and then going to a bookstore. I would sit there for hours , going through all the books I could lay my hands on and then buy a bunch,” says Kiran Manral, Mumbai-based author of books such as Rising: 30 Women Who Changed India and The Face at the Window,among others.

Who amongst us doesn’t have a similar memory of a favourite bookstore? That particular woody, smokey smell (has it been bottled yet?), the joy of choosing a book, the thrill of discovering a new author or genre—a bookstore is a portal to another world. “At Blossoms in Bengaluru, you have no idea what you will walk out with, from an ancient copy of a novel with an intriguing inscription to a book of maps that suddenly feels essential. There is no order, no rhythm, no predictability, just delicious chaos,” says Mahesh Rao, Mysuru-based author of The Smoke is Rising, One Point Two Billion and Polite Society.

Hard times

In today’s world of one-click shopping and deep discounts offered by the likes of Amazon and Flipkart, the independently-owned, often family-run bookshop is an endangered species. Rajni Malhotra, co-owner of Bahrisons Booksellers inNew Delhi says, “I have seen customers come into the bookstore and take out their phones to compare the prices with what Amazon offers. As an independent store, we can’t match those prices because we have overheads such as rent, utilities and salaries. In any case, books are so affordable in India; why should the customer think it’s their right to demand a discount?”

The maximum retail price (MRP) printed on a book takes into account the share of the author, the publisher, the distributor and the retailer. E-commerce marketplaces use exclusionary, anti-competitive pricing schemes, deep discounting and sponsored links to gain market power, while their algorithms manipulate your buying experience. But looking at the book-selling business merely through the lens of pricing is very simplistic. Bookstores do not exist solely to sell books. Diviya Kapur, owner of Literati Bookshop and Café in Candolim, Goa, says, “The independent bookstore continues to play an important role insofar as it provides a world of discovery; the experience of exploring and meeting people and books through visits to bookshops and attending physical events is invaluable and irreplaceable.”

Bookstores offer a curated selection of books that allows for diverse voices to be heard. An independent bookshop is a better champion of reading by simply offering shelf space to books other than just the bestsellers. This is where you are likely to find books from the “midlist” and “backlist”. In publishing terms, the frontlist comprises newly published books, the midlist refers to books that may not be bestsellers but are still economically viable, while the backlist contains older titles kept in print. Ahalya Momaya, co-founder of Trilogy Curated Bookshop & Library in Mumbai says, “Readers need to understand how their buying choices (read e-commerce shopping) are being used to eventually justify a push towards more similar voices and to pull away resources from editing fresh, diverse voices. Most indies genuinely care about the larger picture—in our case, the larger picture is nurturing the reading habit, helping readers read widely and more empathetically and ensuring well-written books find their readers.”

Survival strategy

The pandemic, of course, struck another body blow, forcing some independent bookstores to down shutters. Others struggled on, trying their best to meet expenses, keep their staff safe and find innovative ways to run their business in between lockdowns. Champaca in Bengaluru was barely 10 months old when the first lockdown was announced in March 2020. Its founder Radhika Timbadia says, “We didn’t have any buffer so we launched gift vouchers that our customers could buy and redeem through the year for a 10 per cent discount. This helped us pay rent for the first month. We also launched our website and our own subscription programme where we curate and send book parcels to people’s homes once a month.” None of this would have been possible without the bookstore’s reading community, which rallied round. And that’s perhaps the most important role an independent bookstore plays—nurturing a community of readers and helping people connect. “When I’m in the store, it’s always interesting to see how complete strangers start a conversation over a book. A bookstore is truly a melting pot of people from different walks of life, all coming to the same place to fulfil a need,” says Malhotra.

One offshoot of the pandemic was the formation of the Independent Bookshops Association of India (IBAI) in May 2020. “We used this time to connect with fellow indie booksellers and talk about what we could do to support each other. The launch of the IBAI has been a long time coming,” says Momaya. The founding members include Trilogy, Mumbai; Literati and The Dogears Bookshop, both in Goa; Storyteller Bookstore, Kolkata; Pagdandi Bookstore Café, Pune; and Rachna Books, Gangtok. The aim of the association is to protect the interests of independent bookstores and actively promote them. It also serves as a platform for members to voice their concerns regarding the book retail industry as well as share best practices and resources. As of today, IBAI has 16 member bookstores around India. While Champaca is not yet a member, Timbadia agrees that it’s a good idea for bookstores to come together, converse with each other and be represented.

With the pandemic (hopefully) in the rear-view mirror, most of the bookstores The Established spoke to have reported an increase in footfalls and sales, a few matching pre-pandemic levels. Bahrisons even opened two new branches, one in New Delhi (their second store in Saket) and the other in Chandigarh, making their first foray outside the capital. “However, the situation is still fluctuating and has not stabilised as of now,” cautions Kapur.

Support system

So how can you support your local independent bookstore? The easiest way is to buy your books from them, of course. If you can’t visit a bookstore, you can always order from them directly, either over the phone or through their website. “People seem to think that only Amazon delivers books, but we have been doing that for over four decades”, says Malhotra. Another way to support bookstores is by staying connected—sign up for their newsletters, engage with them on social media, attend their events and get to know the owner(s). Finally, talk them up; when it comes to bookstores, word-of-mouth is the best publicity.

Here are (just) a few of our favourite independent bookstores across India.

- Kitab Khana, Mumbai

- Trilogy Curated Bookshop & Library, Mumbai

- Bahrisons Booksellers, New Delhi

- The Bookshop, New Delhi

- Blossom Book House, Bengaluru

- Champaca, Bengaluru

- Odyssey Bookstore, Chennai

- Rachna Books, Gangtok

- Storyteller Bookstore, Kolkata

- Literati Bookshop and Cafe, Goa

- Pagdandi Bookstore Café, Pune

Perhaps Rao sums it up best when he waxes eloquent about one of his favourite bookshops: “The Bookshop at Jor Bagh in Delhi has the most exquisite taste, a keen eye for real eccentricity and, usually, a sleeping cat in a corner. Running a welcoming bookshop is difficult and thankless in many ways, but there is so much joy in its beautiful hush, with only the occasional decorous clearing of a throat or the sound of the cat waking up.” We can only nod in agreement.

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