Amid the hustle and bustle of the marketplace as well as the continuous hullabaloo created by vehicles in the Main Market at Paharganj lies a bibliophile’s paradise. A brief glance at Jacksons Books—this bookstore can be touted as one of Delhi’s hidden gems—will not reveal the treasures it stores.
However, as you stop in front of the main shop, which projects the impression of a small shack, you will be greeted by the amicable Deepak Dialani. Deepak owns Jacksons Books along with his brothers Ashwani Dialani and Pradeep Dialani.
When we met him on a Tuesday afternoon, he was sitting at the storefront scanning the streets, waiting for another backpacker to visit. The shack that Deepak occupies is only part of his shop. Right beside it is a narrow alleyway that leads you to the actual collection—scores of multilingual books stacked on ceiling-high metal bookshelves, exuding both the charm and the earthy smell of old books, silently waiting for the next book lover to pick them up.
Jacksons Books was established in 1996, and it currently features books in around 40 languages such as English, Hindi, French, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, German, and more. The Dialani brothers started the business as street vendors.
Today, they offer both first-hand books from various distributors as well as pre-loved copies purchased from embassy auctions happening in Delhi. The name Jacksons Books is homage to their late father Jai Kishen Dialani, who owned ‘Jack Travel’ at Connaught Place. “Jacksons Books is a bookstore by the sons of Jack,” quipped Deepak.
For bibliophiles and globetrotters
On entering the cramped main bookstore, you will notice, along with bestsellers such as William Dalrymple’s City of Djinns and Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, books by lesser-known authors that the Dialanis bought from their foreign clientele. “What I like about meeting foreigners is that they bring with them books by various authors in their languages, which helps enrich my knowledge as well,” shared Dialani.
Showing us a second-hand copy of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet featuring an inscription of a CS Lewis quote, Deepak shared that the previous owner was gifted the book by a friend in 1998. It is this beauty of second-hand books—their ability to tell the tales of those associated with the book—that Deepak finds reason enough to continue buying these despite their condition.
Apart from fiction, Jacksons Books has a number of coffee table books, self-help volumes, books on philosophy, and cookbooks. What instantly caught our eye was the row of Lonely Planet—an Australian travel guide book on different countries—that lined one of the racks.
When asked about them, Deepak explained, “We have Lonely Planet of around 200 countries today. Earlier, it used to sell like hot cakes. But now, since it has gone digital, the number [of sales] has decreased. However, I still like to keep them on my stacks. There is a certain ambience of carrying a Lonely Planet with you while travelling. I keep these books in the hope that a few people still get this feeling.”
With such an enriching collection and an affordable price range—the minimum price for a second-hand book is Rs.100— Jacksons Books remains one of the few independent stores in the Capital that still cherishes the art of reading and the urge to know more.