Hyderabad Gets A New Bookstore

Yesterday the day began on a happy note with the news in the papers about the opening of a new bookstore in Hyderabad as well as about a book reading in the evening. I had missed two book readings- one of Syeda Imam's book and the other of Anirban Sen because it wasn't listed anywhere though I knew about it. So I did not want to miss yesterday's event. It was a holiday for the office so I left at half past four from home towards Banjara Hills to Ashoka Metropolitan Mall where 'Books & Beyond' was inaugurated only on Friday by, of all people, a cricketer!

'Books & Beyond' is perhaps the first book store in Hyderabad where I found books by my favorite author, Elmore Leonard. I haven't seen any of his books at the regular bookstores so far except in the second hand stores from where I picked up many of his books. So that indicated that the new store had quite a wide range of books by several writers apart from the usual suspects. I saw Pico Iyer, Paul Theroux and other writers which I normally don't see in other bookstores, not all titles anyway. Otherwise it was pretty much like any other bookstore with lots of stationery, magazines etc. I looked for a notebook with plain paper but couldn't find one.

The newest mall, Ashoka Metropolitan Mall, is right on the main road and is yet to open up completely with all the stores occupied. There is a 'Barista' beside the elevator and I found the concept of a cafe in the open quite interesting. However, I did not sample the fare. I saw a famous face, D. Amar, a senior journalist at 'B&B' but by the time I gathered the nerve to wish him he had left the store.

At a Book Reading

Next I dropped in at Crossword, at City Centre Mall nearby, which was the venue of the book reading. I have never seen a more crowded bookstore in Hyderabad. It was full of youngsters eagerly scanning the shelves and groups of friends leafing through the magazines. I guess it is a good idea to have a bookstore in a mall because it encourages shoppers to drop in. I had difficulty moving between the shelves. I saw Pico Iyer's 'Abandon', his first fiction work I suppose and also the latest.

The book reading of Vikram Sampath's 'Splendor of Royal Mysore' began late. Narendra Luther gave his speech peppered with his usual jokes which half the crowd missed so one can guess what sort of a crowd had gathered at the reading. The talk was preceded by a documentary about Mysore, Karnataka and about how the young author came to write the book. It was interesting to know that the engineer turned MBA was motivated to write the book after watching an episode about the Wodeyar dynasty shown in bad light. It took fifteen years of diligent research to finish the book it seems. It shows in the size of the book which is like a doorstopper. Apart from the size of the book, it was the price that was impressive- Rs. 1500 only!

But it was the light eyed, graceful and elegant compere in a sari who stole the show at the book reading.