Zaidi saab ki dukan’—GPS maps won’t reach you there but word of mouth will. It is easy to miss Maktaba Jamia if you are not attentive. The shop, in a by-lane of Purani Dilli where electrical wires hang at the height of your nose, sits on a narrow lane, then opens up to a crowded space of books with high shelves accessed by a humble wooden ladder. At some point in the day, Ali Khusro Zaidi, its 69-year-old caretaker, has to climb up to them.
Right before Shah Jahan’s architectural grandeur, the Jama Masjid, this bookstore is one of the oldest and the few remaining Urdu bookstores of the area. Established in 1920 and run by the Jamia Millia Islamia, it has stood the test of time, though two months ago it had shut down only to open its doors again.
In 2014, Zaidi had first thought of retiring. “I thought I would finally get to stay at home,” he says. But within a few days, the then-managing director, Khalid Mahmood, asked him to rejoin. Nobody could replace him, it seemed. “I believed it was Allah’s will, so I rejoined,” says Zaidi, a conversation with whom is interrupted by a phone call. “This was from an Urdu literature researcher in Moradabad,” he says. And the phone rings all through the day. Even if the calls are missed, Zaidi makes sure to get back.
Competition to Maktaba Jamia and an obstacle to Zaidi’s efforts, has, however, come from unlikely quarters. “Earlier this lane was filled with bookstores and publication houses, now most are shut, replaced by kebab shops,” he says. There is one right outside his shop—come evening, when the kebabwallah takes position, the bookshop at its back is out of sight.
The beginning
Zaidi’s association with the bookshop is almost a love story. It is tragic, it has a conflict and hopefully a happy ending. Originally from Bulandshahr (UP), his first job at a bookstore in Delhi was at the Kutub Khana Anjuman-e-Taraqqi-e-Urdu, just 10 shops ahead of Maktaba Jamia. He left it in 1978 to join the Maktaba, which is known for its adabi (literature) books, and stay on for 45 years.
Here are a few. Aadmi Ki Kahani (1957), a children’s science book in Urdu by Mushtaq Ahmed on the creation of the world and the theory of evolution of man. Ab Jinke Dekhne Ko (1980) by Anees Qidwai talks about 13 important 19th century personalities, who influenced modern India. Dilli Ki Sham (1968), an Urdu translation by Bilquis Jahan of Ahmed Ali’s Twilight in Delhi, originally published in English by the Hogarth Press in Britain in 1940, addressing India’s changing social, political and cultural climate following colonialism.
Ghazal Numa (1988) by Ada Jafarey, a collection of Urdu couplets by various Urdu poets including Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah--the fifth Sultan of the Qutb Shahi dynasty of Golconda. Khujasta Sultana’s Tareekh-e-Hind Ki Kahaniyan (1965), a collection of historiographies of Indian rulers and excerpts from different legends, including mythological epics such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
The bookstore also has a good collection of Urdu books on Ghalib — Ghalib Aur Safeer Bilgrami, Ghalib Aur Shahan-e-Taimuriya, Ghalib Ki Shakhsiyat Aur Shayari, Ghalib Urdu Kalaam Ka Intikhab, among others. Today being the poet’s birthday, Zaidi is expecting a beeline of Ghalib faithfuls to enquire after a few Ghalib books on the way to the poet’s haveli, just a few kilometres from the shop.
“We sell all kinds of books. We have short stories, novels, drama, history and shayari. My favourite is Diwan-e-Ghalib, a collection of around 200 of Ghalib’s ghazals,” says Zaidi as the phone rings again.
All in a day
“Last time you gave me the wrong address, it was very difficult for me to send you your books. Do not do the same this time,” he tells a caller from Odisha, adding another pause to our interview. Struggling to find his contact on a smartphone that he now uses, Zaidi shares that it is a gift from his younger daughter. “My grandson taught me, but I cannot remember how to do it,” he says. Zaidi’s phone has a default Urdu keyboard, making it difficult for him to switch to QWERTY keyboard to find contacts.
Zaidi is old-school; he does not have faith in courier or online payments. He prefers India Post and cash payments. The effort he puts in to meet the needs of his customers is commendable—the returns are, however, not enough. The bookstore was shut in August due to non-payment of wages. At the time, Zaidi’s wife was struggling with diabetes and thyroid, and she needed an MRI scan done. “I was frustrated. I handed over the keys,” he says.
On returning in September, he found that the tandoor of the kebab shop next to the bookstore was now parked right in front of the store’s doors. Many spoke about it on social media, including Urdu journalist Masoom Moradabadi. “Despite serving it (book store) with utmost honesty and integrity, he was not appreciated. In the last period, he (Zaidi) had to face bitter experiences. He is the encyclopaedia of Urdu books in India.... It is not possible for Maktaba Jamia to replace him,” wrote Moradabadi.
The bookstore reopened this September, and Zaidi was re-appointed, thanks to the outrage of netizens. “It is 2023, but I still get `10,000 by way of monthly salary and `500 as transport allowance,” he says. What keeps him going? “It is my love for Urdu. For as long as there is Urdu, there will be Zaidi,” he says.
Today being Mirza Ghalib’s birthday, Ali Khusro Zaidi, the caretaker of the venerable Maktaba Jamia bookstore opposite Jama Masjid, is expecting a beeline of Ghalib faithfuls. But for all his service to Urdu, the returns are simply not enough.