On a cool afternoon day, thanks to Cyclone Biparjoy, Dilip Mahindkar sits on a handmade stool next to his street bookshop on the pavement facing Flora Fountain, situated exactly at the back of the now-defunct Central Telegraph Office. The Mumbai bookseller takes a quick break while busy petting cats around him and two of his salespersons deal with an endless stream of customers. The books sell like hotcakes! But that’s only because quick-thinking Mahindkar made a good business decision that helped him make money, especially after the pandemic.
The Covid-19 pandemic forced the 42-year-old to shut his shop for six months. But being in the books business for close to 20 years, he thought of a way he could earn money. “I decided to start selling books for Rs 100 each after the pandemic. I realised a lot of people were facing difficulty with money and so was I. These are some of the most popular books and people want them. They are not worried about which bookshop they can get the books from. All they worry about is how they can get them cheap,” says Mahindkar, who came to Mumbai from Kolhapur in the year 2000 in search of a job.
Setting up shop
The Byculla resident says that after passing his class 12 exams, it wasn’t easy for the family to afford his education especially because he would have to travel to the city for higher studies. And, it would cost a lot of money. “So, I came to Mumbai and thus began my search for a job. I got a job at a street bookshop down this road where I used to work daily and stay on the footpath. At the time, I used to earn Rs 40 per day. After learning everything in six months, I opened my own shop on the street next to this one.” However, soon after that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation shut down all the bookstalls on the street that corresponds to the Central Telegraph Office and opens onto the Flora Fountain, also known as Hutatma Chowk circle.
Mahindkar did not give up. While many others moved away after the civic body converted the area into a hawker zone and no-hawker zone, he got licence and set up shop. There has been no looking back since. Today, Mahindkar has a sizeable space on the footpath that houses thousands of books, piled in endless multiple towering vertical columns. It is like a book lovers paradise. One that has been carefully curated to suit the interest of the readers. He says his customers are mostly college students. Occasionally, he gets an adult reader.
Interestingly, Mahindkar has no particular interest in books. It was the circumstances that landed him in book business. Today, ask him about any books, and he names it. “Earlier there used to be a lot more demand for literature, philosophy, classics and Western authors, he says, but today that has changed.” However, after the Covid-19 pandemic, more people are reading what is popular on Instagram or social media, he explains.
Catering to popular titles
There has been a constant demand for Indian authors Amish Tripathi, Sudha Murty and more recently Akshat Gupta, who is becoming really popular with the Indian mythology enthusiasts. As far as the international authors are concerned, Colleen Hoover, Holly Jackson and Lisa Jewell are extremely popular and more women are buying their books. While the bookseller has books that he sells at Rs 100, he also has books that are priced higher depending on how the copy, author and how rare they are to find. However, all of them are affordable for the average reader. The college students mostly take books that are priced at Rs 100, which has only a 10 – 15 per cent margin for me. The benefit is like many other bookshops in the city. He explains, “These books can also be taken on rent. As long as they are in a good condition, they can be exchanged with me, after which there is a discount of Rs 10 – 20, given to the reader.” It is also what many college students do so that they are able to read and he is happy about that.
Unlike all the booksellers this writer has spoken to who say they get readers of all ages and types, Mahindkar made a different observation. “Yes, there are all kinds of readers but most of my customers are women. They read a lot more and particularly buy romance comedy novels from me. In fact, after the Covid-19 pandemic, women customers have grown compared to men. At least 60 per cent of my customers are women, most of whom are college students,” he shares. Men, whose reading habits are not as pronounced as women, usually go for the self-help or stock market books, he says, as he points towards his right where the Bombay Stock Exchange stands tall, to indicate the influence.
Taking old books into the future
Now that Mahindkar has learned the trade, he sets up his shop every day at 10 am and shuts up at 8 pm. Mahindkar has a sense of accomplishment for his Rs 100 sale business idea has not only taken off but is also helping people read more. Such is the popularity of his shop that many Instagrammers come and make reels. “I started getting calls from people in Gujarat, Goa and Tamil Nadu about purchases.” Unfortunately, the bookseller doesn’t have any online presence just yet and has stopped couriers, after his customers experienced a scam while purchasing books. So, their relatives and friends, who are in the city, come and pick up the books from him.
Mahindkar believes that his bookshop has become famous around the country only because of all the hard work and perseverance. One that wouldn’t come if he didn’t have the necessity for food and a roof over his head more than 20 years ago. “If you need a job and if you don’t have an option but have a necessity, you learn it quickly. There is a need for dedication and hard work, and if you have these two, then you will be able to do anything,” he reminds. Now, that everything is back to normal, he intends to start publishing old books, that have gone out of print, so that more people can access them.
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