Suresh Shah, the proprietor of Bengaluru’s famous Sapna Book House chain, died on May 25 due to post-Covid complications.
Shah, 84, who started off as a coolie at a railway station in Mumbai, later worked his way up — from cleaning book-racks at a book distribution company to becoming its sales-manager, and then opening a bookstore that today boasts of publishing thousands of books. His life is an inspiring tale that could be turned into a book itself.
Shah himself, however, wasn’t an avid reader. Until April 24, a day before he tested Covid-positive, Shah used to visit one store a day to interact with staff and customers, also motivating visitors at his shop to read more and grow intellectually.
“We have over 1,000 staff now, in our 19 stores. About 40 per cent of them have worked with us for over 25 years, some were hired by him. He was always grounded, the respect he showed for each and everyone, endeared him to all. But the shop itself is a favourite for many because of the Kannada books we keep and we publish,” said Nijesh, Shah’s grandson.
Sapna Book House’s most popular initiative was probably the kind of books they started publishing. It was Suresh Shah who decided to publish Dr Shivaram Karanth’s first books, said Nijesh.
All Kannada books of Dr Karanth, a recipient of the Jnanpith award in 1978, popular writer Dr Nissar Ahmed, and Padma Shri awardee Sudha Murty were published by Shah.
“He was a non-Kannadiga, but he knew how to speak the language. And my father (Nitin Shah) today edits Kannada books, gives Kannada speeches, writes columns in Kannada because granddad had always pushed him to learn the language. He always used to say that if you don’t know Kannada, can you serve the people of Karnataka,” Nijesh recalled.
The book store chain publishes and sells 6,000 Kannada titles and over 110 Tamil titles through its 16 shops in Karnataka and three in Tamil Nadu.
Humble beginnings
Shah had humble beginnings. He used to sell soaps during the day in Mumbai, and lifted luggage as a coolie at the Dadar railway station at night to fend for his family. The eldest of the four siblings, Shah studied upto Class 10 and started providing for his family after his father died.
There’s an interesting story that connects Shah with former PM Jawaharlal Nehru. As a coolie, Shah was standing in queue along with other coolies to greet the late prime minister at the station. Suddenly, Nehru stopped, looked at him, and told him he would do well in life. A few months later, he joined as a peon at Pocket Book Distribution company, and later got promoted as a sales manager there.
He started Sapna Book House initially as a small store in central Bengaluru in 1967, and eventually diversified into publishing Kannada literature. The book store today boasts of a note-book-manufacturing factory in Ghana — an idea Shah got at age 75 and pursued.
“We didn’t do anything extraordinary, it was just the interactions with customers or staff that made it a family environment, rather than a corporate set-up,” Nijesh told News18, adding, “He was extremely hard working and there is no short cut to success — that’s what he taught us. Despite technology and all that we have around us, it is important to stay grounded and focussed.”
Bengaluru loses another bookstore owner
Before the demise of Shah, book lovers in Bengaluru lost the owner of another famous book store this month. TS Shanbhag, who ran the Premier Book House in the heart of the city on Church Street till 2009, passed away earlier this month due to Covid-19.
Noted writer Ramachandra Guha, while condoling his death, wrote, “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.”
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