Goodbye Nalanda

The news brought a tear to my eye; Nalanda, the bookstore at Taj Mumbai has been shut down. I spent many day there in the quaint little place surrounded by books. You see, my uncle managed the affairs of that store for a number of years. For as long as i can remember, he would drop in there every evening, taking stock of business. we have spent may a evening listening to him discuss its affairs over the phone with his confidante Uncle Pai.

Fact is he loved books and he got me hooked onto reading quite young. so every Sunday was "Nalanda" day for me, i would spend the entire day reading. couple of breaks for tea with the mandatory biryani at olympia. Started with ACK, Tinkle, Chandamama, moved on to the Enid Blyton series, famous five, commando comics were another favorite, Mandrake, Phantom, Flash Gordon, Bahadur, then the Hardy Boys, the three investigators, Nancy Drew..

Got acquainted with Jefferey Archer, Arthur Hailey and ahem Sidney Sheldon in my teens. Dabbled in a bit of Ayn Rand in college..

All along Nalanda had been a silent witness to my fascination with the written word. it is only fitting that my uncle passed away before Nalanda did.. it may have been too much for him to bear.

i sincerely wish the management of the Taj mumbai, reopen the store . I also hope they retain the small space under the stairs where a small boy would be lost in a world created by the book in his hand.

au revoir dear friend...