T S Shanbhag, owner of Bengaluru's Premier Book Store, passes away due to Covid-19

Readers across generations mourned as T S Shanbhag, owner of Bengaluru's legendary Premier Book Store, passed away earlier this week due to Covid-19.

Shanbhag, who marked his 84th birthday on May 2, is survived by wife and daughter's family.

The book store he owned was beloved for decades since its inception in 1971. It ran its course in 2009 due to a gargantuan rise in real estate prices of Church Street.

Expressing condolences, prominent historian Ramchandra Guha tweeted saying he owed much of his education to books bought from Shanbhag's store.

"Deeply saddened to hear of the passing of the legendary Bangalore bookseller, TS Shanbhag. It was the virus that killed him. I owe much of my education (such as it is) to books bought at his Premier Bookshop. He was a wonderful man...," Guha wrote. "My wife and I both grew up reading books bought from Mr Shanbhag and Premier, and so did our children," he added.