Every day, when Dhiraj Visariya enters his bookshop, he is transported into a different world. “My wife literally calls to ask me sometimes, ‘Do you know what time it is? Aren’t you coming home?’ and that’s when I realise it’s 11 pm” he laughs. It is only then that the 50-year-old packs up to return to his home in Jogeshwari.
In fact, when he has to go for weddings, the Mumbaikar has to keep an alarm so that he doesn’t forget to leave on time. On the day we go to meet Visariya, he has literally slept at the shop because he finished as late as 1:30 am, sorting out books for a wholesale books customer, only so that the order goes out in time. 

From a scrap shop into a bookshop 
Visariya’s Ambika Book Centre opened almost 30-years-old and currently has between 8,000 to 10,000 books in English, Hindi and Marathi. Visariya's customers not only include teenagers and adults, but also parents who come along with their children, from the schools near his bookshop. It is walking distance from the railway station, situated near Paradise E-square theatre and runs parallel to the underground Metro-3 currently being built in Mahim. The constant whirring from the machines constructing it is a constant reminder of how the city’s landscape is changing but bookshops like Visariya’s have stood the test of time. However, it would be unfair to think that these changes aren’t affecting everything around it.