ndtraveller-blog

[ndtraveller-blog]

By Sanat kumar Senapati

Bengaluru is bursting with complaints. People from Mumbai and Delhi whine about the 11.30 p.m. curfew in restaurants. Everybody gripes about the traffic. But most Bangaloreans admit that there’s no other place they’d rather be.

The city’s economic vibrancy, the dreamy weather, the signature breakfast of masala dosa with filter coffee, the green spaces, the genuine cosmopolitan air all help Bengaluru score big on the liveability quotient. Culture vultures have plenty of art, music, dance, and theatre to fill weeknights as well as weekends. Almost every professional Bangalorean between the ages of 25 and 55 pursues one of these activities and has the gear to show for it.

Back in the 2000s, the city didn’t have much of a book scene, but in the last couple of years I’ve witnessed the growth of Church Street as a cult destination for bibliomaniacs. Here’s the best of what it has to offer, and because browsing makes one hungry, the list also includes where to grab a bite when the munchies set in.

Important before-travel tips:

Getting There: Once you are in Bengaluru, take the metro to M.G. Road station (head for the Church Street exit) or go by bus to Shivajinagar Bus Station from where it is a 10-minute walk.

Hours: Most bookshops tend to be open 7 days a week, from about 11a.m. to 7p.m. or even 9p.m., though they may shut earlier on Sundays. Shops dealing in used books will normally buy titles back at half the rate you paid for them.

First Stop: Momos

Generally, before entering Church Street (ideally from the Brigade Road side), I treat myself around the corner in the parallel lane with the most authentic Tibetan grub in town at Taste of Tibet (upstairs in Indo-Dubai Plaza, 5 Rest House Road). Apart from the usual steamed momos (₹80 per plate) they have mokthuk, thianthuk, shabalay, shaptra and thukpa, but I usually go for a bowl of soupy phing with tingmo bread (₹100).

Second Stop: For Pre-Loved Books

After devouring those delicacies, now it’s time to shop. First, I drop in at Bookworm at 1, Church Street, a spanking new 5,000-sq.ft. showroom for new and second-hand books. It is a popular haunt of journos from the area’s many newspaper offices because whoever browses long enough is usually served a free cup of coffee; also one can often spot celebrity authors like Anita Nair here. I love it for the hefty discounts. I’ve walked away with ₹5,000 worth of books, but a bill of only ₹3,000—a deal that makes online bookstores seem redundant. Plus I have much more fun here than when browsing on the Amazon website.

Let’s Go For: Lunch Time!

Phew. All that hunting, and digging for books has left me hungry. If it is lunchtime by now, the best-value ₹160 fish thali in town is served between noon and 3p.m. at Anupam’s Coast II Coast, upstairs from the old Bookworm in Shrungar Complex. Their menu comprises a wide range of the finest Karnataka coastal food that you can get in these parts and will fill you with enough energy for more book- hunting.

HUNGRY FOR MORE?

Drifting down Church Street from shop to shop, I pass the Indian Coffee House (19, Church Street) where it is good to clear one’s mind with the cheapest coffee (₹24) in this otherwise upmarket area (they also sell amazingly good coffee powder to carry home), and at the Museum Road corner is the Kerala-style Empire which provides the greasiest non-veg in town.

Fourth Stop: Graphic Novels and Sci-Fi

Across the street from Empire is The Entertainment Store (47, Church Street), which isn’t strictly a bookshop, but deals in graphic novels and comic books, movies and filmy merchandise (Batman figurines and suchlike). A little further down the road I come to one of the city’s coolest bookshops, Goobe’s Book Republic (11, Church Street). It is smaller than Bookworm and Blossoms but the hip factor is higher due to a carefully curated selection of pop culture non-fiction and sci-fi, and the mildly stoner atmosphere. Plus if one can’t afford to buy the books, one can rent them instead, and if one can’t afford to rent them (I had already almost emptied my wallet by this point) one can have a nice chat with the slightly hippie proprietor Ravi Menezes about his plans to spread book-love, literacy and make the world a better place; he runs rural and slum library programs with the profits he makes.

And that is the recipe for a bookworm’s perfect Bangalorean day.

Other Bookstores In addition to those mentioned, there’s Gangaram’s Book Bureau which is an old Bengaluru institution recently relocated to Church Street (but they don’t sell used books).

In the parallel MG Road, the Higginbotham’s showroom was closed for renovation until 2017 and must be open by now, so you can go there. But if it isn’t, one can pick up second-hand books at Book Bazaar near the MG Road metro exit.

Select Bookshop is the city’s main rare books dealer in Brigade Road Cross just across from Church Street and a fascinating place to visit; and finally Sapna has a big showroom around the corner in Residency Road with a café attached.

Where Else to Eat: Church Street has an astonishing number of restaurants and cafes where one can take a break, so shopping here can turn into a food adventure. Queen’s is a time-tested favourite for north Indian veggie food, and The Only Place (take a turn down Museum Road) is the original steak house of the city.