Bibliophiles unite in Bengaluru

In the heart of Bengaluru, unfolds a new chapter for book lovers and book collectors alike The Book Hunters of Bengaluru, an up and coming bibliophile society, which is on a mission to unite readers, collectors, and scholars, alike, in their shared passion for the written word. The club recently held its first meeting at Bookworm, Church Street. The event witnessed personalities, including writer and book collector VR Ferose, artist and sculptor Dimpy Menon and cricket writer Suresh Menon in attendance. Collecting books is not a hobby; it is a disease, Ferose jokes, adding, Buying books for reading purposes and collecting books are two entirely different sports. I buy more books than I can ever read in my whole life because I love the physicality of a book. For Menon, however, reading books was the primary reason for collecting. I am looking to understand how you can become a collector of books, which is completely different from being a reader. In most cases, they come together, thats inevitable, he notes. The origin of the club stemmed from The Antiquarian Bookworm, a bookstore within Bookworm, dedicated to rare and antique books. Having travelled around the world, I could see that countries like the US and UK have these great book collector mixers. As a technologist, I wonder if there is a future for physical books in India. The key insight for me is that the real reason for bookstores to exist is for being a place for the community to come together, Ferose says. But he foresees that major hurdles in this journey are quite a few. The quality of the paper matters for the longevity of a book. The weather conditions in India, too, do not support it. You may find old books, but old books do not mean theyre collectable; it has to be in good condition, he notes. The club hopes to bring together collectors to learn from one another especially on topics like tackling these hurdles and preserving books. Our country has a lot of things about books, you uncover all of these through people who have a deep interest in it a bookstore is a place you find such people. And clubs like these are subsets of it, he says. A WhatsApp community is in the process of being built for those who wish to subscribe.