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The Hindu
3 days ago
- General
- The Hindu
Coimbatore's Old Book Market is having a busy season with schools reopening
Hidden in plain sight near the Ukkadam Bus Stand in Coimbatore, beyond the rush of buses and blaring horns, thrives a quiet world. For over 30 years, it has steadily fed curiosity, supported students, and kindled the joy of discovery. This is the Ukkadam Old Book Market, a place where second-hand books tell firsthand stories. Step inside, and you are greeted by uneven stacks overflowing with paperbacks, hardcovers, exam guides, and timeworn dictionaries. Dust motes swirl like confetti in the sunlight. If you listen closely, you will hear the rustle of pages being flipped, the murmur of titles being read aloud, the banter of booksellers greeting regulars. For bookworms, this market is more than a retail space. It is a routine. The market has 31 stalls arranged in a neat space; each one distinctly curated. Some stalls specialise in school and college textbooks; others stock fiction and biographies, among other genres. One may have a stack of books on Thermodynamics next to a box of Enid Blyton's Secret Seven novels. Another might surprise you with a Sidney Sheldon adjacent to class IX Mathematics textbooks. 'Whatever the syllabus, whatever the level, we try to keep something for everyone,' says KM Fazulul Rahiman, a veteran bookseller. June and July mark the busiest time of the year, when the new academic season draws in a steady stream of students and parents. Guides for JEE, NEET, UPSC, TNPSC, and NET fly off the shelves, along with school textbooks and exam manuals. If a particular edition is unavailable, they go a step further by trying to source missing titles from elsewhere. They also help by suggesting different publishers, authors, or books others in the same age group or exam category have found useful, something that reminds one that this place is alive, not automated. While commercial bookstores and digital platforms often dictate reading through bestsellers and algorithms, the old book market does something quietly radical. It listens. If a visitor mentions a book from 10 years ago, chances are someone here will have it, or know who might. The sellers frequently exchange stock, refer customers to one another, and even keep running lists of requested titles. In a sense, this is what sets the Ukkadam Old Book Market apart: its community spirit. 'We work together, not against each other,' says K Mohammed Raja, who has manned his stall for several years. 'That is why the market has survived so long. If a customer walks away happy, even if it's not from my shop, that is a win for all of us.' A sense of generosity fills the market. It is not uncommon to see a student walk in with a tight budget, and leave with a happy heart, having taken a lot of books back home. Most sellers here grew up valuing education and see themselves as playing a small role in someone else's academic journey. The market is also a trove of forgotten gems. Between engineering guides and nursing handbooks, you will find everything from vintage travelogues to pulp thrillers, children's comics to political manifestos. In a world that prizes speed and efficiency, this slow, attentive approach feels almost meditative. Customers are encouraged to browse, to linger, taking them back to old times. There is no pressure to buy, no hovering sales pitch. Time here bends a little differently. Despite challenges, from changing reading habits to the dominance of online marketplaces, the market has held firm. Though sales dipped during the pandemic, Mohammed says, 'We have bounced back. Students and parents are returning.' Regulars know they will get honest pricing, quality stock, and real recommendations. And newcomers are often surprised, not just by what they find, but how they feel while finding it. Most books here are also priced much below maximum retail price. While online bookstores offer convenience, they cannot replicate this level of personal attention, adds Mohammed. The sellers speak from experience, often guiding readers to better editions or newer versions, and warning against duplicate or pirated copies, which have become a common problem in recent years. 'We get people bringing in cheap, poor-quality prints they bought online, with several pages missing, diagrams blurred. We do not entertain that; we believe in giving people books that last,' says Rahiman. There is something special about second-hand books: each one carries the mark of a previous life, a folded page, a scribbled name, a coffee stain. Each morning, as shutters rise and books are dusted off, Ukkadam's Old Book Market resumes its quiet magic. Rows of books, seasoned sellers, and readers ready to listen to the stories tucked between the pages. The Ukkadam Old Book Market is open on all days, 9.30am to 9pm
The Guardian
04-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
World Book Day: top tips for last-minute costumes
Help! It's World Book Day this week, which for parents and carers often means kitting out your child in a costume inspired by their favourite book. Some of you might have been preparing for weeks, but for everyone else, here are some tips for putting together a last-minute costume using items you might well already have at home. In terms of general advice, I would say it's a good idea to look back at Halloween costumes – a skeleton outfit could be perfect for Funnybones, or a Grim Reaper could be re-purposed as a Harry Potter cape. Consider nonfiction books as well as fiction; there's no rule that says your child has to be a well-known children's book character (my own son was an electric eel one year!) and use cardboard and lollipop sticks to make masks that resemble illustrated characters such as Greg from Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Some easy-to-put-together ideas include Tom Gates from Liz Pichon's beloved series: a child could wear their usual clothes but take a pencil and notepad full of comics they've drawn. For the titular character in Roald Dahl's George's Marvellous Medicine, normal clothes will work too - just add props such as a saucepan and a wooden spoon, or a bottle of water coloured blue. Julia Donaldson's The Smeds and the Smoos could also be a relatively simple inspiration: a child simply needs to wear all blue or red – add blue or red face paint if you like. Jenny McCann, owner of Bear Bookshop, Smethwick Getting a nearly six-year-old into a shirt and tie is not something attempted lightly so a plain white top was sacrificed to the felt tip gods for this Peter from the Secret Seven outfit. Make-your-own-badges were invaluable, likewise a dog happy to double as Scamper. It was only later we realised how inadvertently Nazi the whole get-up is. Catherine Shoard A few years back, our school thought it was being helpful by suggesting we 'only' make masks for World Book Day. Cue the usual parental arms race. Child one insisted on the Lorax. But how to create that lustrous yellow facial fuzz? Pipe cleaners, of course – hundreds, looped around a pair of old specs. Did he look like the beloved Dr Seuss critter? Possibly. Could we all claim a gold star for creativity? Absolutely! My other failsafe: a pillowcase. Just about any costume can be fashioned from one of these, with the added bonus that nothing says 'look, I made an effort' like a kid whose arms are awkwardly stuck out of a roughly hewn rectangle. And if all else fails? Dress them in blue and go full Andrex puppy with some loo roll. Ta-da, you have yourself a bona fide Mr Bump! Anna Thomson Sign up to Bookmarks Discover new books and learn more about your favourite authors with our expert reviews, interviews and news stories. Literary delights delivered direct to you after newsletter promotion You could make a simple skirt from old book pages. Make tubes by rolling up each page and thread string through holes in the top of each tube (you could use a hole punch for the holes). Add a few layers and tie them together. Or base a costume on a character that wears clothes your child already has. The main character in I Love Books, an amazing picture book by Mariajo Ilustrajo, for example, wears a white T-shirt, black trousersand orange socks. Georgia Duffy, owner of Imagined Things Bookshop, Harrogate Looking to the past can be terrific for costumes. L Frank Baum's 1900 classic The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a great inspiration, for example. Got a school summer dress, or fabric with some gingham check? Pair with a basket and dog (real or cuddly, optional), and there's your Dorothy. Meanwhile an upside down funnel and some carefully applied tin foil makes a matching Tin Man. Mr Men books are a great place to look for ideas, too – lots of them can be recreated very easily. A cardboard box, some red paint, and holes for arms makes you Mr Strong, a blue sweatshirt and lots of bandages and you're Mr Bump, while pigtails, a pair of glasses and a book can transform anyone into Little Miss Busy. Jo Zebedee, co-owner of The Secret Bookshelf in Carrickfergus
