A conversation with a dying breed: A bookseller in Kolkata
The book industry in Kolkata is in decline. Here is a conversation with possibly one of the last independent English booksellers in the Indian city, who delves into why his business, the industry and the culture is suffering
Prem Prakash is originally a refugee from Dera Gazi Khan, West Pakistan. His parents and two brothers migrated to India in 1946 and first arrived in Agra. According to Prem, his father opened the first bookshop there and later opened a second one in Shillong, West Bengal, in 1949, just after the partition.
I met him for the first time in 1971, when I was a refugee in India too, at his bookshop. Next to New Market and opposite the famous Kolkata cinema hall Light House, stood his English bookshop named The Modern Book Depot.
In November last year, when I was in Kolkata, I traversed the city to reach his shop; more so to find out whether he is still there. To my very pleasant surprise, I found him at the exact location, where he still runs his shop and it looks almost the same as it did more than five decades ago in 1971.
Ecstatic, I became immersed in a long conversation with him, particularly about the current English book market in Kolkata. Soon I learned that neither of his two children are interested in continuing this business; currently one is in the United States and another one is out of West Bengal.
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Prem, who comes to his shop daily, shared how he is under pressure from family members, building owners and neighbouring hawkers to close his shop and sell the space to other businesses.
Prem also explained he is not making any money from the shop – a phenomenon that can be attributed to the general decline in book sales in this age of the internet. Online business is more successful than physical bookshops. And Prem's business was not spared the reeling effects of the digital age on booksellers. English book publishers like 'Orient Longman' are closing their business in Kolkata.
"I blame the government of Bengal and the current regime in Delhi for the exacerbated assault on the book industry," said Prem, who opined that all ruling parties, including communists and Trinamool, have undermined intellectuals, professionalism and educational institutions in Bengal.
Moreover, the media landscape is undergoing a substantial change too. "Nearly all newspapers have become a beacon of political propaganda. Once Kolkata was proud to publish newspapers like 'Statesman' but today credible newspapers that work to serve the common people are a difficult find," lamented the veteran bookshop owner.
Prem also harbours strong feelings against political institutions' influence on the education sector.
"If one looks at great educational institutions like Presidency College and Jadavpur University, all are now controlled by the ruling party student front. There is no scope for free student politics and the practice of free speech and democratic values," shared Prem.
I was saddened to see empty shelves and meet an emotional Prem Prakash at his shop. At this age, he is no longer optimistic about English book stores in Kolkata. One commitment he made was he will try to keep, possibly, one of the last English bookshops open in the central location of Kolkata, till the end of his time.
