IT WAS possibly the most joyous encounter to come across in the bookstore. There was a family -- father, mother, two boys and one girl and a grandmother in tow. All six of them were there in the book store to spend the evening, choosing books, chattering among themselves in hushed tones. Displaying certain polish in their conduct and well-draped bodies, the family chose many books to buy. Striking a conversation with them was truly a happy experience. “We all got ready for this occasions. We do this every few months. This is our picnic time, our festival with books. And once we take the books home, we celebrate our private time with those literary specimen,” the father, a man in his mid-forties, said. As he spoke, the children milled around showing him the books they wanted for themselves. True to the spirit, every book won the parental nod, of course. In a cultural atmosphere where the importance of books as companions of creative personal time is on the wane, to come across a family with such a romantic association with books was a rare -- and happy -- occasion.

 

The loud-thinker spent a few minutes with the family trying to know about the subjects of their individual interests. Their choice favoured books on almost all subjects -- fiction and non-fiction. There also were a couple of expensive coffee-table books and travel-catalogue-like extravaganzas in the collection they chose. The loud-thinker has often come across such people in bookstores. Though personally he does not seek to know such people on his own, happy encounters do take place -- adding a luster to the occasion of buying books. Even though books can be ordered from various digital marketing platforms, there are good numbers of people who choose to visit the bookstores to make their purchases. True, some of them also choose books in the store and order those later from on-line platforms. But most of them do not mind paying a little more for the purchase of books across the counter because that gives them a chance to mingle with other book-lovers.

 

What in very enticing is to hold the purchased books close to the chest and get engaged in extended conversation with other book lovers, who, too, hold their books similarly and caress those occasionally. That feeling of closeness with books has a special spiritual touch beyond description. Bookstores are special places -- one must admit. They have a fragrance of their own, a serenity, a decorum, a dignity. From the shelves, books beckon. Their attractive covers, their titles make a special impact on one’s mind. It is wonderful just to watch from a distance people interact with books on the shelves. Some books act like strong magnets. Some extend friendly hands in invitation. Some only smile from the shelves but do not send any message to the potential buyer. Many people hesitate even to touch the books on the shelves possibly apprehending their forbidding prices. Watching all that from a distance has its own charm. That weekend, meeting that family engaged in their constitutional festival of books was a matter of sheer pleasure. All the loud-thinker wished to do was only to pray -- Lord, may their tribe grow !