Bookseller's passion for autographed books

The proprietor of Sudha Book House, D Gopinath, is still turning down requests from numerous others for this book and many other books which carry signatures of eminent personalities. In case, you want to take a peek at these invaluable signatures, you have a golden chance when you visit the ongoing Bangalore Book Festival atthe Palace Grounds.

An old bag stocking these worthies is protectively placed under a bench at one of the stalls (No 275) occupied by this bookseller. Rajaratnam’s autograph is found on children’s book, ‘Ondanondu Kaladalli’, by popular author Rashi.  He also has another 50 autographed books in his collection. They include jottings from the pen of litterateur Masti Venkatesha Iyengar, director, G V Iyer  and detective writer T K Rama Rao.
Gopinath’s collection includes an early print of the bestseller, `The Power of Positive Thinking’ by Norman Vincent Peale bearing the author’s signature,  a copy of Bhagavad Gita signed by Swami Shivananda, `Malgudi Days’ with R K Narayan’s signature and a signature of Vinobha Bhave in Kannada on the book, ‘Gita Pravachana’.

“This is my passion. I have no plans for now to sell them,” says Gopinath. The interest to accumulate signatures of great writers rubbed off on him from his uncle, M K Narayana Murthy. “My uncle’s collection was bequeathed to me and for the last two decades I am seriously pursuing reputed authors for their signatures,” he says.