KOCHI: Books still make waves and this has been proven again after the photograph of a bookstall, built in a novel design, at Aluva near Kochi went viral. The image of the yet-to-be-opened bookshop -- Once Upon A Time -- was an instant hit on social media soon after renowned writer Paulo Coelho shared the picture from his official Twitter handle.
The top part of the two-storeyed building is designed in such a way that it gives a feel that four huge books are placed above the roof. The images of books, which are superimposed in the square structure, are J K Rowling’s ‘Harry Potter’, Herman Melville’s ‘Moby Dick’, Benyamin’s ‘Aadujeevitham’ and Paulo Coelho’s ‘The Alchemist’.
It may be because of the presence of his book, ‘The Alchemist’, Coelho shared the image of the bookstall. However, his tweet came as a blessing to Aji Kumar and wife Manju Aji Kumar, who have set up the bookstall, which is slated to be inaugurated soon after the lockdown restrictions are lifted.
“We did not select ‘The Alchemist’ with the intention to grab the author’s attention. We selected nearly 10 titles, which are our personal favourites and which hold a special place in every bookworm’s mind. Apart from the titles which are finally on display, the list also included MT Vasudevan Nair’s ‘Randamoozham’, ‘The Da Vinci Code’ by Dan Brown and hardcover version of William Shakespeare’s plays. However, the designers opted for these four books after considering the book size and colour combination,” said Aji Kumar.
Opening a bookshop was an ambition of the couple, who is managing an engineering institute. “We have a small piece of land at the Power House Road on the Aluva-Perumbavoor route. We thought it will be the perfect site for the shop and launched the work of the bookshop by investing our earnings. We got married 15 years ago and through all these years, we have been keeping the plan to open a bookshop as a passion because of our love for books and literature,” he said.
They are planning to open the bookstall by July 1. The nearly vertical two-storeyed structure with an overall area of 3,000 sq ft will offer books from almost all publishers. “We are planning to set up a separate section for children on the second floor. There will be a small area for children to sit and read. However, the reading facility will be offered to them only if the pandemic is contained and life is back to normal. Till then, we are only planning to sell books,” he added.