KOCHI: In an age when one has to cough up big bucks to buy books, be it novels or those needed for reference purposes, a nondescript shop at Kaloor bus stand sells the very same for prices as low as I50. Surprising isn’t it!
Dasettan, as the owner of the bookstall is known among his customers, has been selling books at such low prices for the past 20 years. “I have books ranging from textbooks for Class I to XII, engineering and medicine courses, competitive examinations, magazines, novels, and autobiographies,” he said. There are almost all kinds of books at Dasettan’s stall.
“I just want half the market price. But if the students are unable to pay the amount, I am ready to sell the same for I50 or I60. They can even pay the money they can come up with,” he said. And if the customer is a regular, he doesn’t think twice before giving it free of cost.
According to Martin, a government employee, he gets his books from vendors who collect them from homes and libraries. “You will be surprised to see the range of books at Dasettan’s stall. Income tax books, books on film songs, engineering and medicine textbooks are some of them. I come over to buy books for my children,” he said. Another specialty of the stall is that the price of the book goes down in proportion to its size. “I got the guide I was checking online the other day for just I60 from here,” said Madhav, a degree student.
According to Kumaran, who is a regular to Dasettan’s shop, one can buy a magazine costing I20 for just I6 here. “He is the most trustworthy man you can find in this field. He has no qualms when it comes to returning or exchanging a book if the buyer doesn’t like it. Other book stalls don’t accommodate such things. This is the reason why I always prefer to shop at Dasettan’s,” he said.
“Some students regularly buy their academic books from me,” said Dasettan. He also gets regular customers for novels especially by John Grisham, Chetan Bhagat, Mahatma Gandhi, Amithab Gosh and Paulo Coelho. “In the case of novels, size decides the price. Depending upon the size of a book, a customer can pay I20 to I50 for novels selling at I500 or I600 in the market,” said Dasettan. It is trust and the affordable price that has people flocking to Dasettan’s shop even though the city has bookshops owned by big names.