Narayana Murthy opens Penguin bookstore in Bangalore

Infosys Technologies Ltd chairman and chief mentor N.R. Narayana Murthy and his wife Sudha Murthy late Tuesday, August 3, inspired hundreds of book lovers by opening PageTurners, an exclusive Penguin bookstore in the heart of Bangalore.

'Reading and preserving books are an essential part of our culture. In this technology era, we should encourage the younger generation to cultivate the habit of reading books and imbibe the spirit behind the art of writing,' Murthy said after unveiling the 2,500 square feet retail store spanning four floors on upscale M.G. Road.

Penguin Books India collaborated with Surya Infotainment Products of the country's oldest booksellers LB Publishers & Distributors to set up one of the largest bookstores in the city, with books on varied subjects from the world over.

Lauding Penguin and Surya for the joint initiative, Murthy advised the partners to open more such bookstores across the country to ensure that reading books became an integral part of learning.

'An exclusive space for our books was only possible till now at book fairs. If we put all our books under one roof, it becomes a destination,' Penguin India marketing vice-president Hemali Sodhi said on the occasion.

Full report here Sify

Ban lifted, but bookstores want to wait and watch

Those waiting to buy a copy of American author James W Laine's controversial book Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India may have to wait longer. The Supreme Court on Friday, July 9 upheld the Bombay High Court's decision lifting the ban on the book but following threats from political parties because of allegedly derogatory remarks about the Maratha king in the book, bookstores are ing it safe.

"We have to see how the situation improves. Only depending on that we will stock it in our store," said the manager of one of the city's most popular bookstores.

"The high court lifted the ban two years ago but publishers were not printing the book. Now, the SC has lifted the ban. If publishers print it, we would definitely like to supply it to readers."

He said if the state government prohibits the sale of the book, bookstores will have to comply. Bookstores are also afraid of attacks from the Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena who have threatened to burn copies of the book and warned bookstores against selling it.

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

Book post

We can no longer get to the bookshops, but the books find their way to us

Since we moved to the hinterlands, we have lost the pleasure of browsing in bookshops, except on rare visits to Chennai or Kochi. One or two shops in Palakkad have a small collection of airport-style novels. In most of the others, as you step around the pencil boxes and water bottles, a young man emerges from stacks of notebooks to ask, Which course, madam?

A dear friend in Delhi took pity on me some years ago and offered to send me books from my favourite shop on Janpath. I asked for Margaret Drabble's The Peppered Moth and he sent me a book on Zen philosophy. Whenever my husband goes to Bangalore or Chennai he phones me from the bookshop and I shop by proxy. (Do you want The Sunday Philosophy Club? Okay. Paulo Coelho? No, no, no!) At best we find one or two titles in this manner.

Full report here Hindu