THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : Under the warm golden light, sitting on a comfy chair with a cup of hot tea while turning the pages of the current read like it’s the most important thing in the world — nothing short of absolute bliss. That’s the magic of spaces like this, like secret portals that whisk you away from reality and drop you straight into another world.
Choosing the right book is just the beginning of a perfect reading experience. Equally important is finding the ideal place to immerse yourself in its pages. However, not everyone has the luxury of a quiet spot at this age. That’s where café-bookshops come in.
The Café Bookmark is a place like that. Tucked away in the corner of a heritage building within VJT Ayyankali Hall at Palayam lies Café Bookmark. With its vintage charm and quiet ambience, it is an ideal place to retreat to enjoy a favourite book and a delicious cup of coffee.
The cafe is the dream project of Abraham Mathew, a writer and the secretary of Kerala State Bookmark, under the Department of Culture. “Bookmark, until now, had been exclusively engaged in book distribution and sales. However, this traditional approach is no longer viable, leading to losses,” he says.
To counteract this downturn, Café Bookmark was conceived as a new strategy. “We know that in foreign countries, many discussions and dialogues occur in such coffee shops. In Kerala, similar gatherings used to happen at village tea shops and Indian Coffee Houses, where people would sit together, read newspapers, and engage in conversations about various topics. Nowadays, such public spaces are becoming scarce. Café Bookmark aims to provide a space for free thinkers to gather, read, and discuss ideas inspired by foreign models,” he explains.
The Café, which opened its doors on June 19, operates daily from 9am to 9pm. As one walks down the steps inside the cafe, a compact space opens up but the interior does not feel cramped or cluttered mainly thanks to the ample lighting.
“It is said knowledge is light, or letters are illumination. Because of that, we have designed the lampshades to resemble book covers.
VJT Hall has a rich heritage. So, we wanted to bring its aesthetic to the cafe. We felt it was both necessary and our duty to preserve this heritage. So, we brought similar roof tiles as VJT Hall from Thrissur,” Abraham says.
The café, with its adjacent discussion area that can accommodate 15 people, aims to provide a space for people to come together and engage in meaningful conversations. This initiative addresses a significant social issue: the lack of free and open spaces for human interaction and dialogue in Kerala. According to him, without such spaces, human relationships risk becoming mechanical.
There is a wide selection of books available for sale and reading at the cafe. “The older generation often says the young are stuck in a digital world and they don’t read at all. But I have always thought that this criticism was not right. Most people who come here to read are students from the University College,” Abraham smiles.
More cafes
Saji Cheriyan, minister of cultures and chairman of the Kerala State Bookmark, has proposed that similar setups be established in various parts of Kerala. Currently, two locations have been finalised: Kozhikode and Chengannur.