The moment I was introduced to him, he said: “You once asked where old books come from. I'd like to counter that with asking, where do old books go?” “What do you mean?” I shot back. “Well, obviously books get old -whether in a bookshop or library or someone's personal collection- and have to be disposed off. They have to go somewhere, right? So, where do they go?”
Giridhar Rao was referring to a piece I had written a few years ago on the difficulty of sourcing used or old books to replenish the stock of secondhand bookstores. I had concluded that in India, unlike, say, America, there wasn’t a constant supply of secondhand books to keep used bookstores alive and healthy. Now, Giridhar was telling me there were enough old books to go around in Bangalore for everyone.
“The trick to finding them,” says Giridhar, “is in knowing where to look. I’ve spent the last five years sourcing books and comics for collectors and used bookstores in Bangalore.” Giridhar Rao is a book scout. And until I met him, I really thought there weren't any book scouts in India. It made me happy to know he was a bona fide book scout, and that he was one among only a handful in the country.
A slim, dapper man in his early 60s, Giridhar is articulate, witty and knowledgeable. It’s always a pleasure to run into him at a bookstore or a coffee house and listen to him talk about his recent rare book and comic finds. “A good book scout,” he always tells me, “will travel far and wide to find the books you want. I source them from College street in Kolkata, Abids in Hyderabad, Moore Market in Chennai, Clock Tower in Coimbatore, and sundry godowns in Mumbai, Pune and Kochi, besides walking the walk in Bangalore, covering thousands of kilometres.”
Book search service
Marco Polo Books is what Rao calls his book search service. He has been supplying Bangalore’s many used bookstores with out of print titles such as Billy Bunter, the Sudden series, Classics Illustrated, Gold Key, Dell and other comic book rarities. “Unlike new bookstores,” he points out, “used bookstores cannot place an ‘order’, as the supplies first need to be located in an acceptable condition and at suitable prices.
A ‘wish list’ is given to a sourcing service or a book scout - usually category wise, say, philosophy, science fiction and so on, stipulating purchase prices for paperback and hard cover editions, permissible number of multiple copies, etc. Acting as a buyer, it is the book scout’s responsibility to ensure correct packing and punctual delivery.
Compensation for the book scout varies with circumstances and the laws of supply and demand.”
The sources
A book scout like Giridhar will tap various sources: unwanted books that are disposed off by weight, which then make their way to the pavement. From classified listings, auctions and donations, libraries that clear their shelves regularly and from distributors and stockists clearing godowns. But the most significant source in recent years has been containers of unsold and discarded books from America that have been flooding the market.
Each container carries over one lakh titles, costing less than 10 lakhs. (This is also the source for all those grand 85 per cent discount sales you see everywhere). Once the importer receives the container, several book distributors pick what they want and restock their gowdowns. It is at this point that the book scout enters the picture: Giridhar will go tearing off to these warehouses, carefully examine the inventory and negotiate a price.
“The used book market is certainly knowledge driven,” points out Giridhar. “Literacy levels at the top are very high. The legendary K.K.S Murthy of Select Book Shop is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Science. Mayi Gowda of Blossom Book House is a qualified Engineer. Krishna of The Book Worm has done Business
Administration.” Rao, a Josephite, did his MA Economics at Central College in the late 60s. He worked in the US till 1976.
“Later surviving as an officer and a gentleman – 20 years with Vijaya Bank as the former, and 15 years of marriage as the latter,” as he puts it wryly. He comes from a family of book lovers, and remembers, to this day, their sparkling conversation, wit and swift repartee.
An avid comic book fan, Giridhar wants to make his search services available to book and comic lovers in the form of a club.
In return for a nominal refundable deposit, members are offered a free search service (in association with Select Book Shop) and a free book or an expensive comic (Asterix, Tin Tin, etc) every month.
Unlike other book clubs the idea is not to make money off members, but to build a network of readers, and generate and sustain a high level of interest among kindred souls. “Comic collectors,” he tells me, “are a breed apart and to interface profitably with them, unlike vending vegetables, the ideas need to be fresh, the attitude crisp and the offer juicy.” Adding with a twinkle, “that life is not about selecting blossoms for bookworms only.”
He can be contacted at marcopolobooks@yahoo.com
