This bookstore in Santacruz houses an extensive collection of second-hand books

Akhilesh Kamlesh shows the classics collection. Pics/Anurag Ahire

Nestled in a small corner of a lane in Santacruz East, Kamlesh Bookstore might seem like any other book shop in the city, that is until you walk up to the store's dusty shelves and discover old, hard-bound editions of classic gems. This writer has long shared a deep fascination for second-hand books, and in a world of flashy, curated bookstores, this little space catches our eye.

We walk in on a quiet weekday afternoon, when the street is still busy with traffic. The small store is squeezed between a popular snack joint and an electronics shop, pushed back from the vehicular rush of the lane. "We used to have a shop in the book street near Flora Fountain. But we had to relocate in 2003. The competition for a space to set up a book stall in that neighbourhood was tough in those days," Akhilesh Kamlesh, the second-generation owner of the store explains.

A collection of second hand books from the store

Hailing from Seoni district in Madhya Pradesh, Kamlesh has witnessed quite a bit of relocation after the incident. Beginning from a small store in Kandivli to Santacruz, he strives to build the same readership that their little stall in Flora Fountain would draw. "We had originally set it up in the 1990s. People would often ask for authors like Ernest Hemingway, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy and my father would constantly refresh our stacks every month. There was also a high demand for plays among readers back then. Now, it is more about what everyone else is reading," he remarks. The store is lined up with the usual classics from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein to Wuthering Heights. But the regulars trust this neighbourhood seller for his sources. "Whenever our regulars ask for a rare edition, I try to look for them."

A quick perusal of the shelves reveals stamps of school libraries to books marked with heartfelt notes from an uncle to his niece. The collection houses memories alongside literature. He links these books to a feeling of community. "When people used to visit bookstores earlier, they would catch up with each other, discover new books and that is how the community would expand," he explains. During the lockdown, he would personally deliver books to his trusted circle of customers. "I often get people in their late 50s come up to the store looking for second hand editions of books while students turn up to ask for old editions of educational books. At the end of the day, it is a matter of preference I think. Time has changed and so have people. But it feels good when someone shows up at your store, keeps me informed as a seller too," he laughs.

As we are browsing around, a group of teenage girls enquire about Colaba Conspiracy, a work in Hindi crime fiction by Surendra Mohan Pathak. The book, they say, has been a quest for them. Kamlesh soon disappears behind a row of stacks for a few minutes, before emerging with the title. We leave the store with a bulging bag hoping that the next time we visit, we find more young readers whose quests land them at such old quaint haunts.

AT Kamlesh Book Store, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Road, near Banarasi Sweet Mart, Sen Nagar, Santacruz East.
CALL 8169969127