It's happening. All around India. Well, surely in the couple cities I have visited recently. Probably a result of the digitization of books, media and entertainment.
The book stores are waning! Or at least, the collection of books in the book stores is.
When we visit India, we always make several visits to book stores. Landmark, Crossword, the book stores in the malls. The one thing that surprised me this time was that the book sections in these stores had shrunk and had been replaced by larger sections selling gifts, stationery, even suitcases and IT accessories like cables, and more. The collection in the books section seemed to be pretty much limited to best sellers and the most popular authors and series only.
This is most likely a result of Flipkart, Amazon.in and other online retailers. Even I find myself ordering books online when I visit India since they get delivered into the comfort of our house, so a (sometimes tedious) trip to the book store is no longer needed. The selection online is typically more comprehensive, prices are invariably discounted and delivery is quite fast and usually free for orders over Rs. 500. The phenomenon we have been seeing in the US resulting the demise of Borders seems to be on the horizon in India now. Even under these circumstances, it was great to see and visit a few specialty book stores like Higgin Bothams in Chennai and Kitab Khana in Mumbai. These stores have an excellent selection of books, with knowledgeable staff, which is somewhat of a rarity these days.
In whatever form people read, whether paper books or electronic readers, I hope that Indians continue to read more since literacy, free and critical thinking, and education is a key asset for any country especially a developing country like India. And more specifically, I hope that children read more since they are today easily and often distracted by electronic gadgets that are useful but do not quite replace reading at their stage in life.
Keep reading...
The book stores are waning! Or at least, the collection of books in the book stores is.
When we visit India, we always make several visits to book stores. Landmark, Crossword, the book stores in the malls. The one thing that surprised me this time was that the book sections in these stores had shrunk and had been replaced by larger sections selling gifts, stationery, even suitcases and IT accessories like cables, and more. The collection in the books section seemed to be pretty much limited to best sellers and the most popular authors and series only.
This is most likely a result of Flipkart, Amazon.in and other online retailers. Even I find myself ordering books online when I visit India since they get delivered into the comfort of our house, so a (sometimes tedious) trip to the book store is no longer needed. The selection online is typically more comprehensive, prices are invariably discounted and delivery is quite fast and usually free for orders over Rs. 500. The phenomenon we have been seeing in the US resulting the demise of Borders seems to be on the horizon in India now. Even under these circumstances, it was great to see and visit a few specialty book stores like Higgin Bothams in Chennai and Kitab Khana in Mumbai. These stores have an excellent selection of books, with knowledgeable staff, which is somewhat of a rarity these days.
In whatever form people read, whether paper books or electronic readers, I hope that Indians continue to read more since literacy, free and critical thinking, and education is a key asset for any country especially a developing country like India. And more specifically, I hope that children read more since they are today easily and often distracted by electronic gadgets that are useful but do not quite replace reading at their stage in life.
Keep reading...
Image: Kitab Khana, Fort, Mumbai. Pic by Venkat
