Ambika Old Paper & Library Book Shop
Mumbai
Located opposite Zig Zag Road in Pali Naka, Bandra is Jayanti Vaviya’s tiny mart cum bookshop with a big name Ambika Old Paper & Library Book Shop which is also known as “raddi” for the ignorant. Yes, they buy and sell scraps of old papers but their main focus is on second hand books. At first glance the shop appears to deal in old magazines and junk, but it’s worth wading through the piles of old bottles and sacks to get to their collection of used books and magazines!
His stock comprises of back dated magazines, old books by famous authors, cook books, children’s books, comic books, and the list can go on. The prices start from Rs 50 for the selection of old detective and crime novels (Agatha Christie, Erle Stanley Gardner) old English classics (Moby Dick), medical thrillers (Robin Cook) and a large but dusty selection of children’s literature.
The owner has run this store for almost a decade and supplements it by trading in old and used items. It’s mostly women, who stop by to pick up bulk copies of magazines and books. Organization of books here is extremely basic, so don’t be surprised if you see a copy of Playboy’s Party Jokes sharing shelf space with 'Oliver Twist' and John Irving’s 'The World According to Garp'.
