Book Shopping: Destination Two

Flora Fountain

What do you do if you are an incurable Bibliophile, need something new to read every 15 days and don't have much money to spend?? Beg, borrow, steal??

Take my advice and take a train to Churchgate. Get down and walk a bit till you are at Flora fountain and you will be in a literal Fantasy land. Books in every size and shape, every author you can dream of, every genre, subject and edition you want... available at throwaway prices!!! Why you can even get a copy of the very controversial "The Satanic Verses" by Salman Rushdie here!!

These pavement book sellers of Flora Fountain have been around for as much as 50 years now and are considered as a very important part of Mumbai's rich and varied landscape. Starting at prices as low as Rs.20 are the all time favourites Archie comics and Mills and Boons (store Price for Archie comics is Rs.60 per copy by the way) going up to the most "expensive" ones which are at Rs.600-700 (these are usually the heavy Management and Law books).

In fact there are even sellers who "specialise" in just one genre and if you are regular enough in this area of the city, then you would know whom to approach for Fiction, Non fiction and Educational books.

The most interesting part is that if you buy a particularly expensive book, you are even allowed to re-sell the book (especially the GMAT, GRE, CAT books) for half the price!! Neat profit, isn't it??

The nature of sale here is non-intrusive. No hawking, calling out or shouting unlike fashion street or Causeway. But bargain you can and bargain you must! :)

This place is my personal favourite, mainly because the vendors here are extra helpful in sourcing out the rarest of titles which sometimes even established book stores find difficult to do. Also being on a perpetual cash crunch, i find it easier on my pocket because here i can buy 4 books for Rs.400 as against 1 book for 400 bucks from Crossword or Landmark.

And each book you buy from here has story... sometimes an inscription on the first page of a Birthday greeting, sometimes notes scribbled in the margins, sometimes the meanings of some particularly difficult English words explained in Hindi or Marathi. Flip through the pages and be lost in a world of its own.....

Verdict: If you don't find a book here, you won't find it in Crosswords either! Go here to get the best deals you will ever find!! And an ambiance that is a class apart ;)