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| Krishna at his first bookstore in Shrungar Complex |
On MG Road, between Barton Centre and Deccan Herald Office is the famous Shrungar Shopping Complex. Tucked inside is The Bookworm — a 400 sq ft tiny little bookshop that stocks around 15000 titles — fiction, non-fiction and everything in between. It is, as it says, a Treasure house for used books. You also get new titles here. I think the shop is around 12-15 years old. It is owned by a young soft-spoken man called Krishna.
Before Krishna became the owner of The Bookworm, he was a footpath-bookseller. In front of, what used to be Spencers, next to Barton Centre and Navarathan Jwellers, Krishna used to sell used books — neatly arranged on a plastic sheet on the footpath.
Krishna hails from a village in Mysore. He was born into an impoverished family. Yet, he managed to finish his schooling. Soon after, he came to Bangalore looking for better prospects. He worked for another footpath bookseller in the mornings (earning Rs.1500 per month; around 25$) and pursued a degree in an evening college. He always had a passion for reading. However, since he studied in a Kannada medium school he never had any command over the English language. "I knew the alphabets and could read some words, that's about it," he recalls. But, he was interested in the English books that he was selling.
One day, Krishna decided to read Papillion by Henri Charrière. “This book was famous with the customers and I noticed many of them recommending it to their friends,” he recalls. It took him three months to read the book — cover to cover. "I read it with the help of a dictionary," he says. Now, he wanted to read more. His next read was: How to kill a Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye, Alchemist... he devoured them all. The last two are his favorites. “I like the narrations”, he says.
Soon Krishna started his own footpath-bookstore-on-a-plastic-sheet. He used to earn around Rs.3000 a month. “At some point I decided that I was going to start my own book store. I worked with determination towards my only goal.” He worked 365 days a year from 8.30 am to 10 pm and more with no breaks or holidays. There wasn't any spare cash to indulge in extra food or entertainment. He also had to send money back home to his family. Tough times! But he never lost sight of his dream.
In two years he managed to save enough seed money to start The Bookworm — the store in Shrungar complex. Seeing his dedication and enthusiasm some of his friends, vendors and customers pitched in with the rest of the amount.
Today, he has a second branch of The Bookworm, in a peaceful 1000 sq ft basement space on Brigade road. He has around 50,000 titles in this shop. A haven for those interested in subjects such as philosophy. At The Bookworm you get 99.9% of titles published.
“My ultimate goal is to start a publishing house,” Krishna says. “I want to publish good works of people that will go on to become classics." I believe, nothing can stop him.
If you are going to be around MG Road or Brigade Road, drop by at The Bookworm to say "hi" to Krishna and to browse/buy any book you want.
The Bookworm
No 80/1, Shrungar Complex
MG Road
Bangalore 560 001
Tel: 080 40913205
The Bookwork
No.32, Basement, Behind New Trendz Shoes
Brigade Road
Bangalore 560 001
( After Planet M, Before Pizza Hut there is a
small lane on the left. The shop is the first
one in the basement, on this lane)
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