Photo Essay – The Last of the Old-Fashioned Book Lovers

Shh, She's Reading

They will soon be gone.

[Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi]

There is a land of Daryaganj and Paharganj, of Fact & Fiction and Mid Land, of dusty wooden shelves. Here in this pretty world of second hand bookstalls and first hand bookstores, the old-fashioned reading will take its final bow. Here is the last ever to be seen of those brave mad souls who spend hours looking for books in racks, not on Amazon.com. These book lovers are not yet tempted by Kindle or iPad. They insist on smelling the pages of the book they want to read. They read in restaurants, in the Metro, on the roadside. A few years more and then they will be no more than a dream remembered, a civilization gone with the wind.

Delhi Metro

Ruined by Reading

Barista Cafe, Connaught Place

Shhh, She's Reading

Janpath

Ruined by Reading

Raja Book Store, Paharganj

Ruined by Reading

Max Muller Bhawan, KG Marg

Eating, Reading

Private Study, Jor Bagh

Reading Steinbeck

Bahrisons Booksellers, Khan Market

Ruined by Reading

Outside an ATM, Mayur ViharRuined by Reading

Timeless Art Book Studio, South Extension-I

City Landmark - Timeless Art Book Studio, Kotla Mubarakpur

Bar, Park Hotel

City Scene – Book Launch Parties

Office, Connaught Place skyscraper

Chicklits

Sunday Book Bazaar, Daryaganj

City History - Sunday Book Bazaar, Daryaganj

Dargah, Nizamuddin Basti

Shhh, He's Reading

Choco La, Khan Market

Smell

Kindle Reader, Costa Cafe, Green Park

Kindle Reader