Alwar
Long time bibliophiles in Madras most probably would have visited the great Alwar old book shop (it's actually a road-side shop at Luz Corner, with no name...Alwar is a poor bearded old man who owns that shop). It is a pavement shop.
Anyway, it so happened that I had to go to Mylapore on Saturday. And I decided to go to Indological Book Center and then to Alwar shop (Aazhhwaar for those who know how to pronounce it).
Indological Book Center is a small entity in an old house in Apparsamy Koil street which runs opposite the Madras Sanskrit College. My father said it housed many books on Indology. Being an unsure Indophile myself, I ended up there. The balmy weather that Madras had been basking in for the past 2 weeks helped a lot.
Apparently this book shop looks like it is at-least 50 years old. It has so many books in Sanskrit, Sanskrit-Hindi, Sanskrti-Tamil, pampering you with Indological indulgences. It is busting at it's seams with books...for a discerning eye it is a treasure house. The book shop is atop an old house that is typically classic Mylapore. I and my father were there for an hour or so just browsing through pages. Many books were originally published in the mid nineteenth century when Indophilia was at it's peak. You can find Monier William's Sanskrit-English dictionary and the first English translation of the Rig Ved (note that this is not a museum, so what you see are new reprints of the old editions). I am told that there are no branches for this unique kind of shop. If you want anything on Tulsidas or Panini or Patanjali, this is your Ground Zero.
We had some hot tea at Bombay Halwa House.
And then we went to Alwar's.
There are many many books, all stacked by the road-side. Many of them, except the outer layer that faces the road, are covered by a polythene sheet lest rain should spoil them. I was looking for my specific requirements - his
assistant said he didn't have them but I think he had. May be he caters only to loyal regulars if the books are not of the usual mundane variety ?
Alwar was having his lunch then, sitting on the road, and was not disturbed by my enquiries.
I found Alex Haley's Roots, which is rare enough.
I read about Alwar 15 years ago in a magazine.
Nothing has changed about the sorry state of the shop since then.
His niche service goes on, unsung and unaided.
Anyway, it so happened that I had to go to Mylapore on Saturday. And I decided to go to Indological Book Center and then to Alwar shop (Aazhhwaar for those who know how to pronounce it).
Indological Book Center is a small entity in an old house in Apparsamy Koil street which runs opposite the Madras Sanskrit College. My father said it housed many books on Indology. Being an unsure Indophile myself, I ended up there. The balmy weather that Madras had been basking in for the past 2 weeks helped a lot.
Apparently this book shop looks like it is at-least 50 years old. It has so many books in Sanskrit, Sanskrit-Hindi, Sanskrti-Tamil, pampering you with Indological indulgences. It is busting at it's seams with books...for a discerning eye it is a treasure house. The book shop is atop an old house that is typically classic Mylapore. I and my father were there for an hour or so just browsing through pages. Many books were originally published in the mid nineteenth century when Indophilia was at it's peak. You can find Monier William's Sanskrit-English dictionary and the first English translation of the Rig Ved (note that this is not a museum, so what you see are new reprints of the old editions). I am told that there are no branches for this unique kind of shop. If you want anything on Tulsidas or Panini or Patanjali, this is your Ground Zero.
We had some hot tea at Bombay Halwa House.
And then we went to Alwar's.
There are many many books, all stacked by the road-side. Many of them, except the outer layer that faces the road, are covered by a polythene sheet lest rain should spoil them. I was looking for my specific requirements - his
assistant said he didn't have them but I think he had. May be he caters only to loyal regulars if the books are not of the usual mundane variety ?
Alwar was having his lunch then, sitting on the road, and was not disturbed by my enquiries.
I found Alex Haley's Roots, which is rare enough.
I read about Alwar 15 years ago in a magazine.
Nothing has changed about the sorry state of the shop since then.
His niche service goes on, unsung and unaided.