Bengaluru: The dust of Indian independence and partition was just settling and life was tough, especially for two orphan boys who had to feed a large family while going to school daily.
It was 1952, and Bengaluru at that time was just more than a small town. But, the city’s streets were no less daunting for pre-teen boys who were forced to win some valuable bread in a society where every soul was jostling for a crumb.
However, for the Gupta brothers, their dire situation was their only motivation.
Burdened at the tender age with the responsibility of feeding a family of 10 after their father passed away, the siblings had no time to waste.
“It was tough, we had no choice but to step out and do whatever we could. We sold milk and groceries and distributed newspapers, anything that fed hungry mouths. I used to ride 40-50kms daily on a bicycle, run errands, rush back home, go to school and then study,” said GRJ Gupta, recalling his early days of struggle, upon which he and his brother founded their little empire of knowledge.
The Gupta brothers began their journey with newspaper distribution and book sales, which later flourished into a city-wide circulation library.
With his elder brother GRP, GRJ Gupta co-founded Bengaluru’s oldest circulation library, the Gupta Circulating Library.
The network
When they started out, GRJ was 10 years old and his elder brother was 12. Their jobs as newspaper boys had helped them build a strong network, which eventually helped them acquire distribution rights for several big newspapers and magazines.
“We worked hard and built a strong network. We got distribution rights for Times of India from Bombay when there was no Bangalore edition. We were also the sole distributors for Kannada newspaper Udayavani, Chitralaya from Hyderabad, Pesum Padam from Tamil Nadu and many vernacular magazines and newspapers spread across 18 languages,” added Gupta, who continues to run the last branch of his old chain of libraries on one of Bengaluru’s busiest roads.
The 80-year-old has been running the pre-Karnataka era library for 70 years from the same location on Sampige Road in Malleswaram. But, Gupta’s business has shrunken drastically over the last couple of decades, forcing him to close down all the branches as well as reducing the size of his oldest and only operational outlet.
There was a time when Gupta Circulating Library had several branches spread across the city with more than 3,500 members and 30,000 books to quench people’s thirst for knowledge.
Despite its shrunken size, the library still has 10,000 books, with most of the editions being 40 to 50 years old.
“It has been a great journey running this service. This library is well past its glory, it used to be three times bigger. But, things have changed, people are busier and the reading habits have also changed drastically. With every new technology our business diminished. It started with the advent of satellite TV in the nineties and then the age of Internet dawned and now ebooks, Kindle and online bookshops have totally changed how people accessed books and read,” adds Gupta Junior, whose elder brother and co-founder retired a few years ago.
But, GRJ Gupta is not complaining, neither he is giving up, he is happy with a handful of members who continue to value his service and visit the library regularly.
“We have had a great life, my children are well educated, my son is based in the US and I still have the library. I am happy to come here every day and still serve the few old members. When they are here it’s like old times,” said the grand old librarian, who still meticulously keeps the record all of his members in the old-fashioned ledgers.
The old world
As we enter the small 10-square feet library, the smell of old books ushers us in to an era many of us hardly realise existed.
An era when buying books was not easy and everybody couldn’t afford to buy them, so libraries played an important role in keeping people entertained and informed.
“The importance of our service in those days could be measured by the distance people travelled to borrow books. There were many people who travelled from villages and other towns once a month and borrowed books from us. Every month they returned with books they had read and would borrow a new set. We also had many prominent citizens of India as our members, such as former President of India, V.V. Giri, who used to visit us in the 1960s as he was the Governor of Karnataka at that time and was a resident of Bangalore,” said Gupta, reminiscing old days.
Despite being in business for so long and with age catching up, the octogenarian has no plans of retiring.
“This is my passion, my life. I want to keep serving readers as long as I am alive. We started from the street and built this from scratch. There was a time when 30 people worked for us, 20 for distribution and 10 working in the library. We also had home delivery of books for our regular readers. We had 3,000 members who took out the books almost daily. Though, there are not as many takers for our service these days, I feel this is where I belong, this is where I feel at home,” said the indefatigable veteran, who now works alone.
The lone ranger
Though, he is the only person managing the library and attending the visitors, the octogenarian is still sharp, reeling out the available titles from his memory like he is reading from a menu.
Around 15 years ago, Gupta reduced the size of the library and over the years, due to his advanced age and limited demand for books, the working hours have also changed.
The library now operates for only a few hours daily from 11.30am to 2.30pm and from 6 to 9 in the evening.
In the 1960s, when the library was at its peak, the membership fee was 50 Paise (half a Rupee) and the cost of borrowing a book was also 50 Paise.
Now, the membership fee ranges between Rs200 and Rs400 per month with a Rs500 refundable deposit and one can read all that one can!
Nostalgically recalling the life of the old he adds: “Our reading fees was 50 Paise in those days. Life was affordable then. If you had 100 Rupees you would feel rich. For 60 Rupees we would manage the family of seven for the whole month. For four Ana (quarter of a Rupee) the whole family could have a sumptuous breakfast. Life was great despite all the struggles. People were happier, things were easier and more peaceful.”
On the tree-lined Sampige Road, apart from the brooding trees, Gupta Circulating Library has been among the few constants for seven decades.
Now, with all the pace of modern development and progress, both the green canopies and this small oasis of knowledge seem to be having their last few sunshines.
Let’s hope that this beautiful vestige of the past survives to turn a few more pages into its epic!
-- Shafaat Shahbandari is a Bangalore based independent journalist. He is the founder of Thousand Shades of India, an alternative media platform that celebrates the diversity of India.
