Hyderabad's Smallest Bookstore

Sometime back, about a month ago, Odyssey opened the biggest bookstore in Hyderabad in the upscale area of Jubilee Hills. With more than a couple of floors the store is really the biggest bookstore in our city. Almost at the same time it also seemed to have opened what can be called as the smallest bookstore in Hyderabad- the Odyssey Express bookstore. In addition to being the smallest bookstore it also is located in a rather unusual location- a filling station in, of all places, East Marredpally

Not until a friend told me about it I did not know about the Odyssey Express bookstore inside a HPCL outlet in East Marredpally. Last Saturday I checked it out and was surprised with the neat and compact store. It had just a couple of racks filled with a choice of books for all tastes- fiction, non-fiction, management, classics etc apart from the latest bestsellers. There were racks filled magazines, racks filled with music and movie CD/DVDs, racks filled with stationery including greeting cards, plenty of toys, gift items and also premium pens- something for every one. That sounds like a lot for a small store no more than a few square feet.

I picked up a bottle of ink and the latest issue of ‘Tinkle’ which I don’t usually find at their main store. The sales person at the counter told me they have two more similar stores- one at the new airport at Shamshabad and another at Prasads Imax. It seems a good idea to have such mini stores in places where space is at a premium but where there is demand for books and such stuff. I expect others to follow this welcome trend.