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Monday, February 11, 2008
Sunday Book Bazaar at Daryaganj, Delhi, is a veritable gold mine! If you love a good read and enjoy good bargains, then this is the place.
Daryaganj, which is a major commercial hub of Old Delhi, bustles with shoppers from Monday to Saturday. On Sunday (closed day for the market) the residents of the area wake up to a different bustle. Early in the day, the pavements are occupied by booksellers who sell second hand books. Each one has a designated area on the western stretch from Delhi Gate to Golcha cinema hall. With more and more sellers joining the trade with time, the corridors of Asaf Ali Road are also occupied now.
The books sold in this bazaar are mostly second hand. However, that does nothing to the quality of the reading material available. You have everything; from fiction to medical sciences; architecture to cookery books; comics to atlases ; classics to
computers; magazines to management books, and hobbies - you name it and this place has it! It is hard to classify the books here in a specific order but a patient search will certainly yield in what you are looking for. Remember, he who dives deep finds the pearls ! But even if you tell the seller what you are looking for, he responds with a heartening promptness. Some seasoned seller in this business will also tell you the name of the author in case you have forgotten and produce the book. If it is not with him, he can get it for you the next Sunday or have it delivered it to you.
Now, the best part ! If bargaining is your favourite sport, then the Sunday Book Bazaar is the playground. Remain poker faced if you have found some book of interest. Expect the selling price to be somewhere near the mint edition but let that not deter you. Start your offer (unabashedly) with one-eighth of what has been quoted, haggle a bit and ultimately you will win.
Some tips: Carry a bag with you to pack the books that you will purchase, carry a water bottle as the walking around in the sun can make you really thirsty.
Daryaganj, which is a major commercial hub of Old Delhi, bustles with shoppers from Monday to Saturday. On Sunday (closed day for the market) the residents of the area wake up to a different bustle. Early in the day, the pavements are occupied by booksellers who sell second hand books. Each one has a designated area on the western stretch from Delhi Gate to Golcha cinema hall. With more and more sellers joining the trade with time, the corridors of Asaf Ali Road are also occupied now.
The books sold in this bazaar are mostly second hand. However, that does nothing to the quality of the reading material available. You have everything; from fiction to medical sciences; architecture to cookery books; comics to atlases ; classics to
computers; magazines to management books, and hobbies - you name it and this place has it! It is hard to classify the books here in a specific order but a patient search will certainly yield in what you are looking for. Remember, he who dives deep finds the pearls ! But even if you tell the seller what you are looking for, he responds with a heartening promptness. Some seasoned seller in this business will also tell you the name of the author in case you have forgotten and produce the book. If it is not with him, he can get it for you the next Sunday or have it delivered it to you.Now, the best part ! If bargaining is your favourite sport, then the Sunday Book Bazaar is the playground. Remain poker faced if you have found some book of interest. Expect the selling price to be somewhere near the mint edition but let that not deter you. Start your offer (unabashedly) with one-eighth of what has been quoted, haggle a bit and ultimately you will win.
Some tips: Carry a bag with you to pack the books that you will purchase, carry a water bottle as the walking around in the sun can make you really thirsty.
