Still going strong

The Select Bookshop in Bangalore still retains its old-world charm.

The bookstore boom in Bangalore has meant the arrival of big corporate chains which offer a lot beside books. But these have in no way dimmed the charm of the much-loved antiquarian book store of Bangalore, The Select Bookshop started way back in 1945. If anything, the old world store off Brigade Road seems more precious than ever before, no less than a landmark of the city.

A wide variety

The store is crammed with unusual and rare second-hand books on a variety of topics ranging from Oriental literature to architecture and gardening. What makes the store extra special is its amiable owner, K.K.S. Murthy, who knows every book, and more often than not, will tell you an interesting story or two on how he came to acquire it.

The shop was started by Murthy's bibliophile father K.B.K. Rao, who turned his love for collecting books into a business enterprise. He often travelled from Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh to Bangalore to pick out rare books at auctions and eventually started Select here. Mr. Murthy, who was working as an aeronautical engineer in the United States, followed his father's footsteps into the book trade in the 1970s.

Full report here Hindu