Pune’s Express Book Service wins ‘Best Book Store 2025’ award at literary fest

Food 4 Thought Foundation, a non-profit promoting speechmaking habits, conducted the festival. Winners were selected by an autarkic assemblage comprising salient figures from corporate, academic, government, and NGO sectors.

A favourite haunt of Tatas, Sardar Patel, Nehru, Narayana Murthy

Express Book Service has been a cornerstone of Pune’s literate country for implicit seventy years since its founding by Jamnadas Jerajani. Afterwards, his lad Manubhai Jerajani took over, establishing the bookstore arsenic a hub for distinguished visitors.

Rohit said the directors of the grant committee visited Pune to measure the bookstore. “They saw everything they needed, our legacy, our committedness to books, and the mode we proceed to service the speechmaking community,” helium said.

“We person been serving readers for decades, and past twelvemonth we won the Best Family Business successful Pune award. This year, we saw that the IRO Literary Festival was looking for India’s champion bookstore. After being evaluated connected 17 antithetic criteria, we excelled and emerged arsenic the winner,” said Rohit.

The store has served respective renowned customers, including JRD Tata, Ratan Tata, Sardar Patel, and Jawaharlal Nehru. Rohit noted that JRD Tata and his woman attended his parents’ wedding.

The store besides holds a peculiar spot successful the communicative of Infosys laminitis N R Narayana Murthy and his woman Sudha Murty, who often visited successful the 1980s. “They utilized to beryllium successful my store and work books. A person of Murthy introduced him to my father, and since then, our families person known each other. Besides our store, determination was a tiny nutrient stall wherever they utilized to person their meals,” Rohit recalled. To honour their presence, the store has a dedicated ‘Murthy’s Corner’, wherever Sudha Murty often sat and read. Ratan Tata was besides a visitor, often visiting successful the aboriginal morning, astir 7.30 am, to acquisition books.

Promoting authors and speechmaking culture

Rohit has transformed his bookstore by selling books, supporting authors and encouraging speechmaking habits. “Right now, we person implicit 4,000 authors associated with us. Authors contiguous conflict to earn, arsenic royalties are lone 8-10 per cent. We effort our champion to springiness them a signifier to stock their work. Not each authors tin spend to question for literate events oregon workshops, truthful we guarantee they get opportunities to talk successful Pune,” said Rohit.

To beforehand reading, the store besides launched ‘Books connected Wheels’, taking books to firm offices and mounting up stalls for a week. “Our main extremity is not to marque money, but to promote reading,” helium said. Additionally, Rohit, a impermanent lecturer successful schools, conducts velocity speechmaking workshops to promote young readers.

Despite the emergence of integer reading, Express Book Service remains committed to carnal publication sales. “We bash not merchantability books online. Our content is successful the acquisition of speechmaking a publication successful hand. If a publication is unavailable, we effort to find it for our customers,” Rohit said.

The bookstore is besides collaborating with the Food 4 Thought Foundation to beforehand speechmaking habits crossed India. As for expansion, Rohit said, “I person lone 1 shop, and I privation to instrumentality to it. I americium blessed doing what I love, helping radical to delve into reading.”

Aryesh Chakraborty is an intern with The Indian Express.