Tilling Fields and Chalking Slates

Krishna Gowda was the first person in his family to graduate from college. As the youngest of six siblings growing up in the village of Rangasamudra, in the Mysore District, he recalls constantly having to juggle his school work with the demands of their small plot. He not only had to help grow vegetables or harvest paddy, he also had to sell their produce in nearby markets.

Accustomed to early morning and late night slogs, he was determined to further his education after completing his 10^th Standard. Given that his public school teachers had been inadequately trained and poorly resourced – “Our English teacher didn’t know English,” “We had never encountered maps or globes” –  he’d had to find other means to master the material. He had sought tuitions from Govinda, a teacher at the Vivekananda Convent, a school that Gowda’s family couldn’t afford.

Stumbling on a Universe of Books

The tutor had inadvertently accorded Krishna a glimpse into a different world. Stumbling on Govinda’s book collection, Krishna had started borrowing reads. He recalls Naayi Neralu by Bhyrappa, a book about reincarnation that made him “cry, cry and cry.” He was also gripped by the Kannada translations of Yandamuri Veerendranath’s Telugu thrillers. Since one of his family chores required grazing sheep, he often perched below trees with a page-turner, while the herd munched about.

Hawking Tales on Footpaths

After crossing another educational hurdle – the 2^nd PUC exam – from Bannur, he sought a part-time job in Mysore. In the meanwhile, Mayi Gowda, the current owner of Blossoms Bookstore, dispatched a letter through a friend. “The village had no phones then,” says Krishna. Mayi had started selling second-hand books on Bangalore pavements, and he suggested that Krishna join him.

Eager to enter the larger city, Krishna acceded at once and literally “hit the pavement” outside Higginbothams on MG Road. The work involved travelling to the Majestic area, ferrying a cartload of used books from a dealer there, then travelling back to MG Road.

Seeking Thrills, Spies and Love

Soon enough the book piles lured a steady clientele. Gowda was sharply attuned to customer tastes, and could suggest future reads based on what they had already liked. Many were first-time readers. They asked the booksellers what books they should buy. Chart-toppers included Sidney Sheldon, Harold Robbins, John Grisham, Desmond Bagley, Robert Ludlum, Tom Clancy and Alistair MacLean. These high-octane thrillers and nail-biter spy novels largely appealed to men.

Reflective of how the erstwhile Kama Sutra nation had tucked romance into curtained spaces, women seemed to hanker for stories that validated desires and taboo pleasures: Mills & Boons, Nora Roberts, Danielle Steele and Judith McNaught. Yearnings were so deep, readers would pick not one or even a dozen Mills & Boons at once, but as many as 20 or 50.

Forging Clever Pricing Models

Attuned to how customers were both love-struck but also strapped for money, the Gowdas forged clever business models. For instance, readers could select 50 Mills & Boons at 20 Rupees a piece. But on returning their dog-eared, well-thumbed copies, they would have to bear only a 5 Rupee reading charge per book. The remainder would be treated as store credit, that could be used to ferry another cartload of dreamy love stories.

Winning Customers Over

Krishna was particularly savvy about recalling which customer had liked which book, and at offering the next three or four sure wins, striking repeat sales before he had been taught the term.

Being Bookish and Street Smart

While grasping the mechanics of commerce in this hands-on manner, Gowda had also signed up at Vijaya College, Jayanagar for an evening B.Com program. His rugged childhood in Rangasamudra helped him tide over the long hours with relative ease. Later, he joined the Karnataka State Open University for a distance MBA. In the meanwhile, he had quit Mayi Gowda’s business to look for a job. Since nothing seemed to fructify, he found another footpath space outside the State Bank of Mysore, in the Shrungar Complex.

Juggling Books and Balance Sheets

Stacking up his books, he worked every evening from 4 to 9 pm, after the bank had closed. After doing this for three years, a security guard alerted him to the availability of a 100 sqft space inside the Shrungar Complex. After setting up shop with a proud “Bookworm” sign, in about six months he had shifted to a larger space. At some point, since a bookstore in Ulsoor was shutting down, he bought a half container of old books, which amounted to 400 carton boxes. While completing his MBA, he had founded a real business, with enviably low operating costs.

When a Historian Drops In

Soon he also opened a larger branch in a Brigade Road basement. He recalls a funny incident associated with that store. The day after he set it up, Ramachandra Guha walked in and picked up G.B.S. and the Lunatic by Lawrence Langner, a book chronicling the relationship between the playwright, George Bernard Shaw, and Langner. Guha asked Gowda how much the book cost.

Krishna said, “350 Rupees.”

Guha said, “Why’s it so expensive?”

Krishna stood his ground with a resolute, “It’s a first-edition, hardback Sir,” not realizing that he was talking to an already reputed author.

Later on, Guha has been one of Gowda’s biggest supporters, promoting his store on podcasts and interviews.

Scaling Comes at a Cost

In 2016, Bookworm moved to its current Church Street location. Catering now to a different demographic, he was surprised by how customers asked for titles he had never heard of earlier. But he still reminisces about those old days with pangs of nostalgia. “Those were good times. Very low operating costs, low overheads. All books were second-hand, nothing to be returned.” In conversations, he and his wife, Uma Krishna, agree that the simpler days were more relaxed and more fun.

Brushes with Favorite Authors

In their current store, they mostly sell new books. Besides Guha, many other authors have supported the store and Krishna has too many favorites to name any. Also, given his current hectic schedule – Bookworm has opened a larger branch in South Bangalore – he finds little personal time for his own reading. He makes do with leafing through popular titles and gleaning summaries.

Gen-Z Takes to K-novels

Dwelling on bestsellers, Gowda says that Korean and Japanese translations into English are the rage today. Perhaps the influence of K-pop and K-drama have also seeped into the book market. In general, Krishna agrees that the book market is not large enough. Given our population, we should have more readers than in the UK or US. But since we haven’t built a strong public library culture, many Indians are not raised to read.

Silver Linings for Booksellers

Nonetheless, there are silver linings. Post-COVID, the market ballooned compared to pre-pandemic days. Currently mainstream publishers take 4 to 5 days to fulfil bookstore orders because they receive so many. Earlier, books would be shipped out the same evening. Besides Bookworm, Blossoms and Champaca have also opened second branches, reflecting an optimistic sales outlook. There’s a surge in literary festivals, book clubs, book events and a support for Indie bookstores by bookstagrammars and other social influencers. Gowda plans to expand the store’s online presence to take on some of the e-commerce giants, who can never match their personalized customer service.

To newcomers who wish to start bookstores, Krishna advises they gain experience by working in existing ones before setting out on their own.

Time Traveling Between Shelves

When I wander among the neatly-stacked and clearly labeled sections – “Plays”, “Children’s Books”, “Biographies”, “Popular Science” –  in their Church Street store, Uma Krishna, Gowda’s wife and a co-owner of the store, calls their staff for a cake cutting. As the team softly sings “Happy Birthday”, readers wander between shelves, rustling pages. Some immediately find what they want while others wait for Krishna’s staff, most of whom have worked here for 10 to 15 years and can locate books without checking their database. Sometimes the soft-voiced Gowda himself might help, and proffer three or four related titles, summoning a skill cultivated on MG Road’s pavements.

References

https://thebookworm.co.in/