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In post-COVID world, your book browsing habits will change
Updated On: 28 June, 2020 07:19 AM IST | Mumbai | Jane Borges
Mumbai's stores say lounging and reading will no longer be encouraged. Buyers will only be allowed limited time between the shelves
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Kitab Khana at Fort is presently only open for pick-up and deliveries. Starting next month, they will be allowing five visitors at any given time, to browse books at the store. Pic/ Bipin Kokate
For a Wednesday afternoon, Kitab Khana is eerily still. An hour has passed, and no customer has swung by its door, even though Fort, where the bookstore is situated, a fleeting distance from the iconic Lady Flora, usually has no room to even park a car. The idle chit-chat, the slow movement of readers from one shelf to another, and the gentle shuffling of pages, has been replaced with cold silence. The first customer of the day arrives only at 2 pm. He does the quick temperature check and hand sanitising routine, but instead of diving right into the sea of books, he heads to the counter. The name of a book title is shared, purchased and he is out in less than five minutes. Kitab Khana regulars will say they've been robbed of the shared intimacy. But Jagath Tekkatte, chief operating officer of the bookstore, which opened on June 8, for pick-up and deliveries only, reasons, "At a time like this, we can't take chances."
The bookstore is currently manned by a team of two, along with a security guard. While the organisation is paying nearly Rs 3,000 daily to arrange for the commute of the staffers, their customers, who used to spend hours and sometimes, even the entire day in the spacious premises, are few and far between. A WhatsApp number has also been shared for readers to place their orders, and deliveries are couriered within 24 hours. "Opening up the store was never meant to be a business decision. Ours is a passion enterprise," shares Tekkatte. Yet, in a post COVID-19 world, where does it leave the booklover, for whom browsing, reading and lounging, are experiences intrinsically tied to a bookshop?
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