Sunday book bazaar Abids - the stories of the sellers by D Suiam

Note: This is a series on independent bookstores and book bazaars in India focussing on their resilience during the pandemic.

Sunday book bazaar in Abids, Hyderabad, started in the late ’60s where the sellers commenced their sale early in the morning to present their books and go back home by dawn. Abids Sunday book bazaar is one of the unique markets that exist in Hyderabad that only sell books and it’s only available on Sunday. The weekly market is not handled by one owner or watcher. But holds its own stories after every 10 metres. And this post is a ode to these sellers and their stories.

The market has more than one lakh collections and almost every genre of books, from children’s books to fiction, non-fiction, literature, education and many more. The market has a huge collection of languages in the books such as Hindi, Telugu, Urdu, English and many more. The market keeps its popularity in children books, non-fictions, school and college books as the highest sale every month. 

‘‘The unique thing about this market is that we provide 10 to 90 per cent on purchasing any books’’ said MD Naseer, one of the regular booksellers in the Sunday book bazaar who has been in the market for the last 30years. The Business graduate MD Naseer is a big fan of book reading during his school and college. Growing up surrounded by books MD Naseer decided to start a business in selling books which will make him filled with satisfaction “I never liked the idea of working under someone, So 30 years ago after my graduation, I started searching for something non-perishable and something that gives me the reason to keep going. With my brother being in the business before me, I decided to start a bookselling business in this market because it’s easy for me to start with and I know quite a lot about it already and most importantly I like doing it” MD Naseer further adds.

Like every bookseller in the city, the sellers in this market have been affected very badly by the pandemic, the market has to stay closed completely for almost a year. 

Arshad said “Even after the pandemic we only recovered 50 per cent compared to the sale before the pandemic because the readers get used so much to online purchasing, now we barely get any visitors at all.” Inherited business from their family, Arshad and Mujahid starting their journey in the market 20 years ago. With their family’s support, they started since they were children by helping their family. “As it’s a Sunday market we do not need to go to schools so we helped our parents in arranging books and now after many years we decided to continue to follow our family’s footsteps and it feels good to be in a business passed down from one generation to next,” said the brothers. “I’ve started coming ever since I started remembering things. As it is a family business and this market only takes place on Sunday. I used to help my family to pack and unpack books,” said Arshad.

The pandemic is a big loss for Muqtar. Like every bookseller in this market Muqtar is one of them who face the difficulty of living during the pandemic.

“But pandemic is nothing, compared to the time when online sellers first came to the market with the huge offer they provide to the readers and bought everything from the comfort of their home this almost left us no one to come to the market,’’ Muqtar said.

Muqtar is an Urdu reader who has a passion for selling and marketing tactics. ‘‘I love being around books, collecting and reading them, but because of not having a good understanding of the different languages, I can only explore reading in Urdu’’ said Muqtar.

The market has 70 to 90 per cent of regular customers who visit every week and 10 to 30 per cent of new customers weekly and that gives the sellers enough reason to stay in this market. '‘Like books come and go in the market and so do the readers. Our duty as sellers is to make sure we are here when they come,'’ confess the sellers.

With all the ups and downs of this market, it's still keeping its chin up high and waiting for its reader to finally get out of the comfort of their home and explore the feelings of the presence of books around them in the markets. Visit the market and buy the books you like to support the sellers of this market.

The bazaar is open everyday from 10 am to 9 pm and is bustling on Sundays.

Map: Sunday book bazaar

Bio note:

 


D Suiam is a Student of Bachelor in Commerce from Osmania University, Hyderabad. Born and raised in Jaintia hills, Meghalaya where he completed his high school in Navodaya. Reading and writing have been a part of his life since middle school and he also enjoys travelling around places and coffee.