Sunday, November 13, 2011

National Book Trust, India


When was the last time you walked into a book shop -

where you were greeted by a friendly and smiling face,
when you mentioned that you were looking for books as gifts, for a specific age group, they pointed you in the right direction and volunteered lot of information about the books themselves,
when you were flustered that you did not carry your membership card (that helps to avail of a 20 % discount each time) and also did not remember the Membership number, they asked you not to worry but patiently searched their old registers to locate the details (not a quick computer search),
where you can quietly sit and browse through the books without a crowd breathing down your neck ?

Genuine personal touch enhances the quality of each of our experiences in life. The NBT book shop is one such wonderful place, where each book shopping experience has been a pleasure. Books are as much about the shopping experience and the pleasant memories they generate, as the books themselves. Each time I pick a NBT book to read, I am fondly reminded of the friendly and helpful lady who assisted me in picking the books.

National Book Trust, India is one of the oldest book publishers of India, with a wide variety of titles published in English as well as numerous Indian Languages.The idea of creating an institute like NBT was conceived by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to promote a nation wide love for books and encourage book reading habits. Among st the various categories of books published, Nehru Bal Pustakalaya is the series which caters to children's literature. Today on the occasion of Nehruji's birthday, which is celebrated as Children's Day in India, it seems befitting to highlight NBT and the revamped book store in Bangalore (Southern Regional office of NBT). Also this week (Nov 14 to Nov 20) is the National Book Week being organised by the NBT. A lot of wonderful events have been lined up for this in New Delhi, the details of which have been outlined in Pratham Books blog.

The NBT book shop in Bangalore is located in the Banashankari BDA complex. Recently the book shop was renovated making it spacious, well lit and having comfortable space to sit and quietly browse the books, just like how a good book shop should be! A lot of their books have been reprinted using high quality printing material making them look even more catchy. At very reasonable prices and the books covering a range of topics, I would definitely suggest you to take a look at their books. If you get a membership card paying a one time fee of Rs.100, you can get a discount of 20 % each time you shop for books. Quite a few NBT books have been reviewed at ST - The World of Trees, The Joy of Classical Dances of India and Dear Popat.

Here are some snapshots of the shop (taken with the permission from the Regional Manager).




















One of their fairly new books is Lengdon's Legacy, which is being enjoyed by all of us at home. The review of this book  by Sathish, will follow this post.   

9 comments:

sathish said...

NBT @ Banashankari is a cute little place. Very friendly folks and one can get books from lot of indian languages.

Artnavy said...

Very informative and well timed write up- here I come!!

sandhya said...

Sounds like a dream bookstore. The photos are mouthwatering.

I fondly remember the many NBT books I read as a child. Along with CBT, I think these were the only quality Indian books available three decades ago. Most of my favourites from then are still available in the same form even now!

They are not easily available at many bookstores, though, and one has to really search. The ones we own currently have been bought at the NBT stalls at the Bangalore book fair.

Thanks, Ranjani for this.

Choxbox said...

Wow. The shop looks awesome.

Jave picked up most of our NBTs from either Sutradhar or the Bangalore Book Fair. Will chk this place soon.

ranjani.sathish said...

Thanks Art, Sandhya and Chox. You should definitely check out this place :-). As Sathish mentioned you get the copies of the books in multiple Indian languages too, which is a big plus.

Vibha said...

Ranjani, a lovely write up on NBT Bookstore.

Tulika Publishers said...

Informative write-up, Ranjani. Want to pop by at the store when in Bangalore next, hope a similar space opens in Chennai as well. Rupa the Elephant is a favourite!

ranjani.sathish said...

Thanks Tulika ! I read this news clipping which says in the end, that NBT does plan to open a store in Chennai soon :-)

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/189084/all-nbt-store-draws-booklovers.html

utbtkids said...

Is there a store in Hyd?

Related Posts with Thumbnails