In harmony with books
Friends, Conversations and A Bookstore in Banaras Warm thanks to the Purple Pencil Project . Why does he not stock books in Hindi and those for children? A friend I had gone with to the Harmony Bookstore asked me. I pointed her to Rakeshbhai - the curator and owner of this deceptively quaint bookstore. “If I keep Hindi books I need to have a range and number that does justice to the customers and the collection; it makes little sense to have only few books in Hindi,” – Rakeshbhai responded. Similar for books meant for children. “I can suggest bookstores” he added. The Lonely Planet refers to Rakeshbhai’s labour of love as ‘The best bookshop in Varanasi, with a particularly good selection of titles on Varanasi and the Mughals’. Another website praises the ‘poetry collection’. Dayanita Singh too, referred to it as ‘a story in itself’. Illustration: Prashant Mirinda After one of my initial visits (which was incidental) I came across an article by Rakeshbhai where he talked