Post news network
Bhubaneswar, Oct 4: The city has lost one of its favorite hangout hotspots for booklovers. ‘Walking BookFairs’, an innovative bookshop that recently won the best bookshop award in Kochi, has shut down Monday. Reading popular books in such a positive environment would not happen anymore since the shop at Nalco square was forced to close its doors forever. Its owners used to claim that besides the usual functioning of a bookstore, they tried to bring the books to the readers.
The reason: They were forced to evict when a man with some documents came to them and claimed that the place actually belonged to him and not to the one from whom they had rented it from.
Opened in January of 2015, the owners of the bookstore and longtime friends Akshaya Routray and Satabdi Mishra were mostly known for their concept of mobile library that they carried in a truck to different regions of the country with a motto to increase love for books. Their shop became one of the favorite destinations in the city not only among the readers, but also established and aspiring writers.
Saddened Akshaya said: “We rented this place from someone, planted trees all around the place and were here since January last year. But suddenly last month, a man came to us and claimed that the stall belonged to him and that he wanted to rent it to someone else. We and BMC authority tried to reason with him and asked him to take rent from us, but he refused the proposal,” said Akshaya. Akshaya and Satabdi had left their good paying job at a publishing house to start the bookstore.
Bibliophiles across the city were struck with grief upon hearing the news.
Manish Sehgal, a student of KIIT, said, “I really loved that place. The ambiance was too good for people like me who loved to read books in a calm environment. I will definitely miss reading books amidst the greenery.”
Smith Das, one of those who admired the initiative, said, “Akshsya and Satabdi devoted their life to this bookshop, and now we should support them. From making shelves for books to planting trees, they did everything with their own hands.”
Akshaya added it was a naïve initiative with a motive to create love for books.
