“Earlier, every other person used to love reading books. This is not the case today,” says the owner of Shree Maharashtra Book House and Library located in Mumbai’s Dadar area. Being over 50 years old, this bookstall has witnessed how reading habits and preferences have changed over the years. 

A scrap store turned into a bookstall
Jethalal Viseriyya initially opened a scrap store in which, besides trading waste material, he also sold a few novels. Shockingly, Viseriyya started making a sale of over 100 books per month. The 64-year-old saw a new opportunity here and chose to venture into a more decent line of work. In no time, the scrap store was converted into a full-fledged bookhouse. Under this, he started selling not just English novels, but Marathi novels, magazines as well as academic books. Visseriyya says, “We have had many customers, over a hundred per day, in the past.”