Strand Book Festival

My mum may have given me my peaches-and-cream complexion, but it’s my aunt who’s always nourished my grey cells. It’s been our little ritual to visit the Strand Book Stall together, right from the time I was old enough to tell a good read from a bad one. We’d go there and browse the shelves for hours. And I’d get to pick the most promising one and take it to the twinkly-eyed gentleman who wrapped it up especially for me.

As I grew older, it was the same saint, TN Shanbhag, who’d give me discounts on discounted prices just so I could get a fix of my steadily growing reading habit. But it was only when I visited my first Strand Book Festival that I realised how there was a whole generation of word addicts like me, whose habit had been fed by one man’s large heart.

This year too, as I entered the Sunderbai Hall, with tables groaning under stacks of books, I felt my pulse race. As the fragrance of printing ink wafted up, I felt the urge to grab every book I could afford. And thanks to the fabulous offers (the discount can go up to 80%) I could purchase quite a few.

I snagged the complete works of Shakespeare and Rowling for a steal. And just so you know that this sale isn’t about shifting their deadstock, I must tell you that I got almost half off on some of the latest pulp fiction. No wonder my personal saint was accorded the Padmashri six years ago.

Sixty years in the business, thousands of faithful clients and still, each shopper’s considered important. And since Mr Shanbhag probably knows you’re a procrastinator, if you head to the sale today or tomorrow (the last two days), he may just gift you a copy of Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of NOW! Or at least a whopping discount on the 40,000 titles there.

Strand Book Festival on until January 28 at Sunderbai Hall, Near Churchgate Station, Mumbai; Timings: 10am-8pm; Tel: 22661719; Website: www.strandbookstall.com.