In this bookshop guide, Ayushi Banerjee takes us on a tour of some of the best browsing spots for booklovers in Kolkata, India. If you have bookshops you’d like to recommend in a particular city, further information about contributing follows this article.
As a young kid caught up amidst the musty smell of towering books and a panoply of colour, the 1.5 kilometre stretch tucked between Bidhan Sarani and Bowbazar, fondly referred to as Boi Para (neighbourhood of books), had been my happy haven. Usually known as College Street owing to the presence of Kolkata’s numerous colleges and universities, this stretch of road teems with outdoor book stalls and stands as the largest second-hand book market in India. College Street was initially part of a structured axis to order the haphazard cityscape under the Lottery Committee in 1803. Today, the hand-painted sign boards all over the street with worn and grimy fonts characterise the city’s dilapidated charm and yearning of the past. In the middle of the bustling city of Kolkata and the sounds of parping car horns, this plethora of bookstores is a treasure trove for every literary fanatic.
The oldest store has been around for 137 years: the three-storey Dasgupta & Co. Pvt. Ltd. Established in 1886 by Girish Dasgupta has served bibliophiles over four generations. Its lustreless, pale blue doors and windows look as though they may not have been painted since the Calcutta Riots of 1946, when violent mobs barged into the shop to protest against its sale of the highly controversial book, D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover, banned in many countries for obscenity following its publication. Though this episode damaged sales for a time, this bookstore has survived throughout the years. It has been honoured by the Heritage Foundation with a blue plaque for the services it has rendered to Kolkatans. Aurobindo Dasgupta, its current, fourth-generation owner, envisions converting the bookstore’s top floor into a 100-seater free reading room and library. From its inception as a small shop with an odd collection of books ranging from Bankim Chandra’s Indira, Kapalkundala to that of Madhusudan’s rare literary pieces such as Ekei Ki Boley Sabhyata, little had the founding father imagined a towering collection of some 70,000 books including first editions of rare publications.
[In] 1946 […] violent mobs barged into the shop to protest against its sale of the highly controversial book, D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover, banned in many countries for obscenity following its publication.
Another shop along the road, Chuckervertty & Chatterjee has also grown significantly since its beginnings in 1910, transformed from its modest one-storied establishment to a two-storied showroom crammed with books. It boasts of a rare collection of Madhusudan Majundar’s novels such as Amor Bir Kahani, Sonar Bharat and has developed an enviable archive on the life and works of its founder-patron Acharya Prafulla Ray. This gem of a bookstore is situated opposite Presidency University and carries a history of hardship and much instability. From surviving a fire in the early twentieth century immediately after its inauguration to the modern challenge of competing with the online book market, Chuckervertty & Chatterjee has persevered. Its patrons know the joy of hunting out and wrapping your arms around a desired hardbound book. As Pinaki Mazumdar, the director at Chuckervertty , remarked, “Thankfully, we still have book lovers across age groups who prefer the earthy smell of flaxen pages. While we are planning to extend the business electronically, nothing can parallel the somatic experience. That is evident from the footfall we witness during the Kolkata Book Fair, or for that matter in our store annually.”
From surviving a fire in the early twentieth century immediately after its inauguration to the modern challenge of competing with the online book market, Chuckervertty & Chatterjee has persevered.
The beauty of College Street draws book lovers from all walks of life and a diverse group of students who travel for kilometres to avail of the best bargains for second-hand textbooks at the labyrinthine market and many stores. Bani Library is an ideal spot for such thrifting. Established in 1954 by Basudeb Dhar, it is a grand old bookstore with fading blue paint and a charmingly sagging structure. The store not only boasts a huge collection of agrarian science books but hosts a regular crowd of astronomy enthusiasts who flock there for the latest editions of Jyotish Shastra (science of astronomy). Bani library also houses a small makeshift arrangement in the rear part of the shop for readers who can spend a breezy, summer afternoon contemplating over a Sankar or Pinaki Bhushan.
These are only a few of the many treasure troves that make up this famous hub for books, a must-visit for any keen readers visiting Kolkata. So, the next time you are in the City of Joy, roving around the thin North Kolkata bylanes, set aside some time to lose yourself among the towering stacks of books and reading nooks of Boi Para.
Note: This bookshop guide gives the views of the author, and not the position of the LSE Review of Books blog, or of the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Main Image credit: A book stall in Kolkata © Radiokafka on Shutterstock.
Third image credit: A book stall on College Street, Kolkata © Udiani on Pinterest.
Main Image: Radiokafka on Shutterstock.
Do you know a place with great bookshops? If there’s a city or town with bookshops that you think other students and academics should visit, then this is your chance to tell us all about it.
As part of a regular feature on LSE Review of Books, we’re asking academics and students to recommend their favourite three or four bookshops in a particular city, with the aim of building an exciting online series for our book-loving community of readers the world over.
Bookshops could be academic, alternative, multilingual, hobby-based, secret or underground institutions, second-hand outlets or connected to a university. We’d like to cover all world regions too and are particularly keen to feature cities outside of Europe and North America.
If something comes to mind, we’re looking for a brief introduction about the city and around 150 words per bookshop, detailing why each one is a must-see. Our editorial team can then find suitable photos and links to accompany the piece, though you’re welcome to supply these too. We only ask that you focus on just one city or region, and three or four bookshops within it.
Email us if you’d like to contribute: lsereviewofbooks@lse.ac.uk
