How Delhi's The Bookshop Inc Became a Literary Hub Even After a Closure

In the heart of Delhi's Lodhi Colony Market, tucked between an upbeat Japanese restaurant and a carpet showroom, The Bookshop Inc's crimson door serves as "an invitation into the city's intellectual life." This isn't merely another bookshop opening—it's the resurrection of a beloved institution. When The Bookshop in Jor Bagh, established by K.D. Singh in 1971, closed its doors in October 2023 after over 50 years, it marked the end of an era for Delhi's literary community.

Yet from these ashes emerged The Bookshop Inc., run by owner and curator Sonal Narain and creative director Mahika Chaturvedi, former partners from the original establishment. What they've created isn't simply a relocated business, but a reimagined space where literary tradition meets contemporary community needs in one of India's most vibrant cultural capitals.

From Jor Bagh to Lodhi Colony: A Legacy Preserved

The original Bookshop was started by KD Singh in 1971, operating from both Jor Bagh market and Khan Market before settling in Jor Bagh. Sonal Narain had been a managing partner at the original store, working alongside Nini Singh, KD Singh's widow, and colleague Mahika Chaturvedi. When the original establishment shuttered, these former partners refused to let Delhi's literary legacy disappear entirely.

The transition from the quieter confines of Jor Bagh to Lodhi Colony Market has fundamentally transformed their operations. As the team explains, "Given that we only changed locations, and the core team running the bookshop remained the same, fortunately we didn't have to alter our existing approach to our business and the principles on which it has run for all these years." However, they acknowledge a significant shift: "Perhaps the only transition we've had to make is acclimatising to a lot more active programming schedule, which hadn't been the case in our previous location, which was much quieter. Now we host at least 3-4 events in a month."

The new space maintains visual connections to its predecessor through mirrors mounted on the ceiling—remnants of the old store that now scale up dark wood shelves covering the walls from floor to ceiling. Cane stools planted in quiet corners wait ready to oblige browsers, whilst the bookshop has transformed from a quiet sanctuary into what crowds now flock to for evening programming featuring "an exuberant roster of authors, scholars and literary commentators," including Ramchandra Guha, Ravish Kumar, William Dalrymple, Joe Sacco, Upamanyu Chatterjee, Amitava Kumar and Chiki Sarkar.

Curating Community Through Literature

Central to The Bookshop Inc's identity is what readers describe as its role as "a sanctuary," known for "its curation—a refreshing break from the humdrum of bestseller lists that thrives on spotlighting the lesser-known gems of world literature like translations and small-press titles often pushed to the sidelines." This curatorial philosophy stems from years of experience and a clear mission: "Our idea is to make literature from around the world accessible, and to help readers find the best book for themselves."

The team's approach to curation centres on "an infallible commitment to excellent curation. That comes first, and all else later." This commitment manifests in their careful selection process: "The only way to make reading feel relevant to contemporary life is by populating our shelves with books that actually respond to the contemporary world in some way. This is across genres, across time, across regions. And only possible through a lot of research."

Their expertise became particularly evident when they challenged the conventional literary canon-making. Last summer, in collaboration with patrons and industry experts, they created their own response to The New York Times's '100 Best Books of the 21st Century' list. Published by Scroll under the provocative headline 'Not the NYT list: 100 fine books from around the world (and not just the USA) of the 21st century,' their version offered "a savvy response to the myopia that rigs much of the Anglophone literary world."

Beyond their retail curation, The Bookshop Inc. has launched three quarterly book clubs focusing on backlist titles, food writing, and fiction in translation. The initiative emerged from consistent reader requests over the years, with each book club serving as a way to highlight books that might otherwise go unnoticed and help readers discover titles they wouldn't normally select.

Building Literary Community in Urban Delhi

The book clubs represent The Bookshop Inc's most ambitious community-building initiative, addressing what the team identifies as a crucial need: "These book-clubs are hosted solely to offer a space to anyone who is keen towards a reading life and is lacking the community to share the love of books with, for whatever reason."

Moderated by Swati Daftuar, an editor and organiser of the Annual Book and Bake Sale, the club's focus is on reader empowerment. Daftuar's own connection to the bookshop runs deep—she frequented the Jor Bagh location when she started working in publishing, and it was there that her now-husband proposed to her one evening after hours.

The inaugural book club gathering took place in the bookshop's back garden on an overcast Sunday afternoon in February. Members had spent the previous month reading and following each other's progress on a WhatsApp group, creating a sense of companionable connection before meeting. This approach recognises that though reading is principally solitary, readers rarely engage with literature in complete isolation.

The team's curatorial expertise extends to their book club selections, drawing from their experience: "Given that we've been doing this work for a while, we have a fair sense of which books are excellent middle grounds between a supposedly high-brow reader and someone new to 'serious' literature." Working with Daftuar, they create reading lists that balance accessibility with intellectual engagement, selecting books that "can be read within a month" whilst remaining "critically engaging to make their investment worthwhile."

Their success metrics deliberately avoid conventional business measurements. As the team explains: "We've started hosting book clubs just 6 months ago, even though we had been toying with the idea for a long time. It hasn't exactly been long enough for us to consider, let alone assess, any performance indicators, so to speak. We'd perhaps argue against such an idea, too." Instead, they measure success through sustained community engagement: "We suppose these book clubs are successful as long as even a few people keep coming back to them, and find like-minded people to share a third space with."

Looking ahead, the team explicitly rejects traditional expansion models: "We don't have any strategic plans to expand our influence on the reading culture of this city. As an establishment, we try not to identify with an ambition phrased like so." Instead, they focus on responsive presence: "What we would say is that we are constantly trying to find contemporaneous ways to be present for readers in our city; be able to identify what their preoccupations and concerns are. By way of our curation and our programming, then, hope to address the same."

The Bookshop Inc's success suggests that sustainable literary culture emerges not from ambitious expansion schemes, but from consistent presence, thoughtful curation, and genuine commitment to readers' evolving needs—making every visit worthwhile.