Two Book Exhibitions

Last Friday, I went to two book exhibitions – one at Crossword, Kemps Corner and the other organized by a local bookseller at Sunderbai Hall, Churchgate. Both promised fantastic discounts and both were well attended. However, both offered significantly different book-buying experiences.

The books at Crossword, were as expected, well organized by subject. The clientele was well-off and was mostly from the surrounding upscale residential areas. The Sunderbai Hall exhibition was an example of “disorganized” retailing. Books were not well displayed, and stacked around as if in a vegetable market. The attendants did not know where specific books would be, and book billing was done manually. The hall was hot and your finger tips would be doused in dust before your left it.

However, I stayed longer at the Sunderbai exhibition and bought four books there versus none at Crossword. I enjoyed the surprise of discovering a book that was possibly out of print or a commercial failure after minutes of foraging through the book aisles. There was no specific reason why a particular book was displayed except for the fact that the organizer had purchased it at a rock-bottom price and wanted to make a cool profit. Crossword, on the other hand was brim-full with the latest bestsellers.

I bought a book titled Raja Deen Dayal: Prince of Photography, which contains photographs of Hyderabad taken during the Raj. It was quite relevant as I was on my way to Hyderabad the next day. The second book was Myself Mona Ahmed – a heartrending pictorial documentary of 13 years in the life of a eunuch photographed by Dayanita Singh. I had been to an exhibition of the photographer’s recent work just a few months ago at the NGMA. The third one was a book on office design (I'm looking for some tips on how to spruce up my new office), and the fourth one was Bandits by Eric Hobswam. I had read a chapter or two from this book while doing an undergraduate English Literature/Film course called Outlaw Heroes.

I’m glad that both type of exhibitions co-exist in the same city, just a few kilometers from each other. That’s the wonder of the delicately fragmented customer segments that exist in our growing economy. Choice is what I love best.