Sarawati Book Co

People often get lost trying to find us because Budhwar Peth is just a maze of narrow lanes and old buildings. We are tucked away in the Atharvashree Building, right by Jogeshwari Mandir, so if you can find the temple, you can find the books. It is not a fancy place with air conditioning or coffee machines. Instead, we have stacks of paper reaching the ceiling and that specific smell of old glue and ink that stays on your clothes all day. Most mornings start with moving heavy crates around just so someone can walk through the aisle. We have been here on Jb Road for a long time now, watching the shops around us change while we mostly stay the same. Sometimes the dust gets a bit much, but that is part of the job when you deal with this many pages. We don't really have a system that a computer would like, but we usually know where everything is if you give us a minute to think. Customers come in with lists from school or just looking for something to read on the bus. It gets loud outside with the temple bells and the traffic, but inside it is mostly just the sound of pages turning and the fan humming in the corner. We spend a lot of time just dusting things off and making sure the stacks don't tip over on anyone. It is simple work, really, and it keeps us busy from morning until we close the shutters.