Daryagunj’s Sunday Book-Bazaar Closed amid Mixed Opinions and Nostalgia!

by Saba Siddiqui

Have been a dil se dilli wali since forever, though I am no longer in the city, but a sense of nostalgia gripped my nerves when the news of shutting down of the book-bazaar by a petition raised by MCD in High Court reached my delicate senses, around 3 weeks ago!

For the bibliophiles, books are what dope is to an addict. Being one, I had a mini heart attack when I heard about the clampdown on the famous #bookbazaar that came to life every Sunday on the pavements of Netaji Subhash Marg. The by lanes of #Daryaganj have been witnessing the love for books old, very old and decrepit alike for about 5 decades. The Municipal Committee of Delhi closed the bustling market that has been a hub for vendors who sold a huge variety of books on every topic in almost every language and of course the penny-wise buyers. It’s the second Sunday with a barren bazaar, and my heart still aches for the books that may not see a new reader loving and caressing every page of them and of course the booksellers, who may have a hard time making both ends meet.

The #Kitabbazaar as locals call it, had been on my bucket list for the next visit to the city. I wanted my husband to show around the Sunday bazaar for some cool finds, I admit, more than me, he is a bibliophile who smells books like it’s a lifeline! Alas my love, among the thousand other things we missed for not having met earlier,  book-bazaar will become one I had never even imagined!

Filling your bookshelf with some great finds can ask for a bomb on your pocket. For the forever broke students and even professionals of Delhi, Daryaganj’s book-bazaar has been a staple to live for. Even people from effluent background didn’t miss an occasional trip to the pavements of Daryaganj on Sundays for some amazing finds and of course dirt cheap prices… Daryaganj has been famous all over the city and beyond, precisely for the book-bazaar. It was a book heaven. It’s not the prices of the items you would end up buying even without having an intention of, but the immense knowledge of the mostly uneducated vendors about the books they had and even those they don’t that would cast a spell on you long after you left the place, read, re-read or dumped the book!

It was nothing like any other market in Delhi with shops made of bricks and mortar but in the open. While some vendors piled thousands of second hand books in a huge heap, where you will have to rummage and get your hands dirty finding paperbacks,  first editions, and even signed copies of famous celebrities, Others would be neatly stacked for a clean sweep through the titles and editions on a mat. Either ways, the staggering volume of books ranging from fiction, art, science, architecture, craft, coffee table books or comics, this market had everything for every kind of reader! Not forgetting the cheap stationary that some would bring along with their collection.

The Municipality’s decision to scrap the market was in a bid to make the noisy and crowded Sunday’s of Daryaganj calmer and less chaotic. Amidst all the clamor, many hail the decision, including a lot of reverend DU Professors! I wonder if the thousands of booklovers and those sellers felt the same way about it. Plus, it’s not like only Daryaganj had traffic issues owing to the market, every weekly market in any nook and cranny of Delhi invites a chaos beyond imagination and yet the city keeps its heart open to everyone. With the court’s order implemented, Delhi has lost an iconic market- the book-bazaar, touted no less than a world class library that has made millions of students see their academic requirements through slim pockets.

I am all for the Sunday-sizzle of the bazaar to revive in the Netaji Subhash Marg in Daryaganj, if not, then the authorities need to provide another place for it.

For those who feel the same way, sign this petition and make your statement.

https://www.change.org/p/delhi-high-court-bring-back-dariyaganj-kitaab-bazaar