Live Like a Flame

At last the long awaited Worldview Bookstore at Jadavpur University has opened. It is in the Swarna Jayanti (Golden Jubilee) Building on the site of the old JURSA office/Vivekananda Hall on the ground floor to the right. This is opposite Milan da’s famous canteen.

The opening was on Friday at 4pm and was well attended by the good and great of the University, although a sudden rainstorm kept away people who had been planning to show up later in the proceedings.

Mr Sachin Rastogi, the proprietor, better known to us as the moving spirit of Worldview publishers, was there, along with his wife, who very ably designed the shop, and his father, who is the proprietor of Bookland in Delhi.

Sachin had clearly thought he would have people address the gathering and formally open the bookshop, and so he had set up a table with mikes all ready for the authorities to bless the occasion. But Sachin had reckoned without JU’s book mania and the authorities were soon so engrossed in browsing that they couldn’t be prevailed on to budge from the shelves.

Pretty soon a busy silence descended on the shop, punctuated by munching as the Rastogis had provided excellent sandesh, biscuits, fruit juice and coffee. People squatted on the floor and fossicked for their favourite topics.

There is a phenomenal amount of shelf space at the shop, enhanced by standalone shelves coming to elbow height in the middle.

As you enter and deposit your bag at the door with the security guard, you see history on the shelves, followed more or less by criticism, film studies and gender studies, then psychoanalysis.

As you go round the room, you come upon popular science, mathematics, then serious scientific texts in cognitive science, chemistry, biological sciences and industrial applications. Worldview’s great strengths in new scholarship show up well in the store, and these books do not come at first world prices.

I really do not know how Sachin does it, but he’s certainly proved that it is possible to sell great new books from all over the world at affordable prices in a third world country.

The enthusiasm with which people, even students, bought books showed that they agreed. This can only grow once students arrive when the semester starts on 9 July. There is a great lack of good bookshops south of the commercial districts in this city, and it is a great inconvenience not to have a bookshop in a university. Till now we only had the ‘almari mashimas’ from Study Bookshop who were to be found  on the ground floor near the stairs in the UG Arts building, who did a valiant job with no infrastructure.

Sachin will welcome suggestions of titles that students and faculty would like to buy, especially of books that are prescribed or required reading. It’s a good idea to keep him apprised of books likely to be needed a few weeks in advance. There is a comments book at the counter for you to write down any titles you want. It’s not essential, but it helps if you can mention the name of the publisher.

At present the store is giving an introductory discount of fifteen percent, so rush there with your orders. Sachin encourages browsing and you won’t be chased out unless you bring a sleeping bag and try to camp there.

There is a small section of fun fiction that will interest young people who read for leisure, such as the Football Fantasy series and lots of chick lit.

There is also a small but interesting selection of Bangla books, and this is one area where people must give suggestions and expand the list.

Sachin would also appreciate it if faculty who are running courses this semester would give him lists of books they are prescribing so he can be prepared for students’ demand. People have already asked for books to be used in next semester’s courses, as I saw from his order book. Moreover faculty who will need books to teach can place advance orders. Worldview are good at getting hold of books from out of the way places, which makes them ideal to run a scholarly bookshop, where quality rather than quantity is what people want.
The opening hours of the bookstore are from 10.30 in the morning to 8 in the evening.

Visitors to the University can also shop there, but if you are from outside then it’s a good idea to hang on to your cash memo in case security at the University’s gates wants to see it. Come in through Gate no 4 and take the first left. It will be on your right after you’ve passed the UG Arts and the PG Science buildings.

June 18th, 2007 | Tags: Jadavpur University, launch, Worldview Bookstore | Category: Events | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL