An over filled car park’s roof metamorphoses into a Sunday book bazaar in the national capital.
It does not match the scale or the depth of the famous College Street or Blossoms of Bangalore. Nevertheless, the market provides some succor to the parched book hunters of Delhi.
How does one reach ?
Exit gate number 2 Delhi Gate metro station and walk a few steps to the left on Asaf Ali Road.
For those driving there, a car park is available. Roadside NDMC parking also isn’t a hassle on a Sunday.
When ?
The bazaar opens at 9 am and continues till late afternoon
Towards books
Which books?
The place reflects the mood of the society.
Study materials abound – thronged by eager students and helicopter parents.
Novels abound. There are reprinted as well as old original ones. Kafka and Dostovesky seem to be popular, going by the availability of reprints. They jostle for space with Murakami and J K Rowling.
Non fiction books are plentiful. They include the usual stuff like Atomic habits and similar titles. These books will apparently change the reader.
Old magazines are a plenty – do people even buy them? and if they do- do they end up in the same place a couple of months down the line?
August 1976 –
Stationery is an interesting find- unused diary and paper of different quality being sold by weight at reasonable rates
Do the sellers read the books? Some of them seemed knowledgeable and struck up a ready conversation. Others were happy to point out the price of the lot without giving a thought about what they were peddling.
One can find a stamp collector in the bazaar, thrown somewhere in between the books – for the philatelists
At what price?
Being Delhi – both buyer and seller are acutely aware of money – and haggle and nag.
What else?
The bougainvillea provides an welcoming sight as well as an opportunity for the omnipresent selfie hunter
To quench the thirst for knowledge
Not everyone has only books in mind
The well groomed rajma chawal lady
The crowd looking at and hunting through books , the surprise and pleasure of finding a book one ascribes much value to – an author whose name strikes a cord in the reader’s heart- the jostling and look out for pick pockets- the sharp eared sellers ( they can pick up whispers of bibliographic discussions amid the din)-.
All of this is much more than what the place is made out to be in popular opinion. It is more than just a cheap pirated book market.
Worth an annual visit
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