Students second them

Kuldip Dhiman

“Second-hand books are wild books,” observed Virginia Woolf, “homeless books; they have come together in vast flocks of variegated feather, and have a charm which the domesticated volumes of the library lack.” 

At the thought of a second-hand bookstore,  we normally imagine an oldish gentleman in a shop overflowing with rare books, manuscripts, memorabilia, and maps.  Chandigarh does not have a really good second hand bookstore in this sense. However, it has two markets selling largely used school and college textbooks. 

The second-hand books market which is now in Sector 15, was located earlier opposite Panjab University Gate No. 2. It is a popular place with students looking for books at affordable prices.

Sushma, who is doing a PhD in economics on female child labour, says: “This is a very good market because I get  books up to master’s level here at an affordable price.”

Echoing Virginia Woolf, Ishan Lumba, who has cleared class 12 from St Kabir, says: “I normally come here for novels and biographies. I get them cheap here although the condition might not be too good. Condition of the book matters only to those who collect books.” Another student, Ayan Wadehra, says “As I took medical in class twelve, I need lot of competitive books and study material. I come to this place as I get books very cheap here. Further, I don’t like to read online, it is too tiring and I just cannot concentrate. I am a person who needs to feel the book in his hand.”

This market was shifted to its new premises in 2007. What difference has it made to the sellers and buyers? 

Anand Singh, president Old Booksellers Association, says the business has improved largely after shifting here. “Former Governor Gen Rodrigues once came to buy books at our old location. We did not know he was the Governor. Suddenly it began to rain and we started covering and packing our books, forgetting him altogether. He was a kind person who, instead of getting upset with us, understood our problem. It was largely through his initiative that we were shifted to this new place.”

“When we had our stalls in front of PU Gate 2, our condition was very bad. We used to sell on the floor, now we have become shopkeepers from vendors,” says Sandeep Kumar, Secretary. “Work has improved. We had lot of problems in the open space. Now books are safe from rain and heat, and we have shutters. We request government now to take us one step forward. Now we are paying rent, I would request them to consider giving the place to us on lease.” 

New challenges

However, the sailing is not all that smooth as the storm clouds of online sellers are threatening even the second hand booksellers. According to Jamshed Ali: “Students ask for a book, we tell them the price, then they check on their phone and say that it is available much cheaper online. As a result, we are forced to reduce our profit margin to a great extent.”

Rakesh of A1 Bookshop is a graduate, who became a salesman selling books, and later decided to sell second hand books. Regarding the impact of online sales, he says, “We have suffered no doubt. Now we are not getting any BTech customers as they are buying them online at throwaway prices.”

Moving over to Sector 42, we meet Deepak Pandit of Sunny Bookshop who also admits, “Business is suffering like never before. We used to sell hundreds of Engineering books alone, but now no one comes for Engineering books.” 

Talking about the stiff competition from online stores, Ashwani Mahajan owner of Mahajan Book Centre & Stationers, says: “It is big fish eating small fish. They are buying all dead stock from booksellers and selling online at throwaway prices. The government must intervene and make sure our interests are not harmed.”

Need to improve variety

Why do they sell only second-hand textbooks here, why not general books? “Some book lovers who like literature, history, art etc., come to us for books but we are unable to cater to them,” says Anand Singh. “The size of our booths is just 6X8 feet. We just can’t stock much. We used to stock general books, and even rare books at our earlier location, but here it is not possible. We requested the Municipal Corporation to allow us to display books in the courtyard, but they did not agree.”

Gursimran, an avid reader of fiction and non-fiction, who shifted to Chandigarh a few years back, says, “I wish the administration would allow the sale of second hand books on pavements on Sundays like they do in Daryagang, Delhi.” 

Although used textbooks are the mainstay of Chandigarh’s second-hand booksellers, they must stock good fiction and non-fiction too so that the general public also finds a good reason to come and see the surprises waiting for them.