THERE IS NO DENYING THE FACT THAT PEOPLE WERE MORE HOOKED TO SOCIAL MEDIA THESE DAYS BUT IT WAS JUST A PASSING PHASE. WE HAVE WITNESSED MANY SUCH LEAN PHASES BUT THEN WE BOUNCED BACK

KUSUM ARORA

Jalandhar

Bearing testimony to the 1947 IndoPak partition, a majority of Punjabis, who came from Pakistan preferred to set base in Jalandhar, which today houses some of the oldest book shops of the region. While many book shops have shut down, others who were still managing the show sustained because of the Punjabi literature catering to the interest of the NRIs from Doaba belt and the literature on 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Sikh history and religion. Jalandhar’s three oldest book shops namely New Book Company and Sunder Book Depot at the oldest Mai Hiran Gate and Reader’s Paradise in Model Town market said that all thanks to avid book lovers that have come a long way but the future was seemingly bleak. One of the oldest book shops, New Book Company owner Manjit Singh was running the family legacy of book selling. Originally hailing from Sargodha in Pakistan, they owned a book shop in Lahore in the early 1940s. “After partition, our family came to Ludhiana and set up ‘Lahore Book Depot.

Later, we shifted to Jalandhar, where my father Mehtab Singh started New Book Company in 1954. The journey has been remarkable but now because of online boom in book selling and the decline in reading habits, even we are thinking of changing our business,” he said. Manjit Singh pointed out that reading habits of people first underwent a major shift with the coming up of Television and then the internet boom. However, he also shared that post 1984 antiSikh riots, there came a boom in book sales. “People from all walks of life were seen buying books and periodicals to read about the riots,” he added. Another old book shop -Sunder Book Depot which was set up in 1966 saw its owner Sunder Singh lamenting that book selling was at an all-time low. Sunder Singh’s family came from Multan in Pakistan and set up the book shop, which is famous for Punjabi books. Sunder Singh said that those good old days of book reading was almost over now. “Our expenses were increasing and the shop was rather running into losses. But, I am passionate about my work and managing the show. It is sad that the current generation was not much interested in doing in-depth study of any subject, leave fiction and non- fiction books, “he said. However, SK Sharma from Reader’s Paradise in Model Town market slightly differed in his views. He said that people who were fond of reading books finally land up in book shops. “There is no denying the fact that people were more hooked to social media these days but it was just a passing phase.

Later, we shifted to Jalandhar, where my father Mehtab Singh started New Book Company in 1954. The journey has been remarkable but now because of online boom in book selling and the decline in reading habits, even we are thinking of changing our business,” he said. Manjit Singh pointed out that reading habits of people first underwent a major shift with the coming up of Television and then the internet boom. However, he also shared that post 1984 antiSikh riots, there came a boom in book sales. “People from all walks of life were seen buying books and periodicals to read about the riots,” he added. Another old book shop -Sunder Book Depot which was set up in 1966 saw its owner Sunder Singh lamenting that book selling was at an all-time low. Sunder Singh’s family came from Multan in Pakistan and set up the book shop, which is famous for Punjabi books. Sunder Singh said that those good old days of book reading was almost over now. “Our expenses were increasing and the shop was rather running into losses. But, I am passionate about my work and managing the show. It is sad that the current generation was not much interested in doing in-depth study of any subject, leave fiction and non- fiction books, “he said. However, SK Sharma from Reader’s Paradise in Model Town market slightly differed in his views. He said that people who were fond of reading books finally land up in book shops. “There is no denying the fact that people were more hooked to social media these days but it was just a passing phase.

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