When Pt Nehru came calling
Ihad to leave Lahore (where I had a book shop) in May 1947 after the clouds of Partition began to loom large. I came to Shimla from Pakistan and opened a bookstore near Hotel Clark.
As the winters set in, our sales dropped. By the time it was December, the winter capital of India was covered in a blanket of thick snow and the sales trickled down to zero.
My father (CV Advani), an administrator at Mayfair Cinema and Estate, asked me to come over to Lucknow around the Christmas of 1947.
I landed here but wasn’t sure of the potential of a bookshop in Lucknow. Then I met ‘Dada’ Acharya Kriplani who was the president of Gandhi Ashram. I requested him to give me a corner in Gandhi Ashram. He then asked Vichitra Narain Sharma, a minister in those days, who agreed.
The store was scheduled to open on February 1, 1948 but Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on January 30 and the nation observed 13-day mourning.
Finally, Gandhi Ashram opened on February 15 and so did my bookshop— then known as Ray’s Book Shop. In 1951, it was rechristened.
Gandhi Ashram was a one-stop khadi destination for political leaders. The visitors assumed that my shop was a part of it and they walked in regularly to browse and buy. Gradually, Lucknow University teachers and book-lovers started visiting the shop regularly. In the latter half of 1948, PM Pt Jawaharlal Nehru visited Gandhi Ashram. There was no pomp and show and he was simply accompanied by his secretary (probably Pyarelal) and a security person.
Soon the news spread and a large number of people gathered in the verandah outside the premises gazing in a very disciplined way. Pt Nehru walked up to my section and picked two books — one on theology and another on philosophy. Politely, I told him, ‘Sir, the bill will follow.’ But, he stood there and told his secretary to clear the bill. That took about two minutes. Then I walked with him to his car. He smiled and waved and I felt as if he was wishing me well. His face and memory are still etched in my heart.
After he left, people came to my
IN THE LATTER HALF OF 1948, PM NEHRU VISITED GANDHI ASHRAM. THERE WAS NO POMP AND SHOW AND HE WAS SIMPLY ACCOMPANIED BY HIS SECRETARY AND A SECURITY PERSON
shop asking for the same book that Panditji had bought. As I did not have extra copies of the book, I assured them it would be procured from abroad. In those days, Bihar was known as the best governed state and its CM Shri Krishna Sinha was my regular customer. On the way to Delhi, his plane would land in Lucknow for re-fuelling and he would visit Gandhi Ashram every month for khadi and drop by at my shop too. After two visits, he asked me if I could bring some books to Amausi, as it would save his travel time. So I would carry a set of 25-30 books for him to the airport in my small Austin car. And he always affectionately asked if the bills were being cleared.
Subsequently, his son Shiv Shanker sent me a huge order on wildlife and Victorian-era books. I thanked the chief minister for the order from his son to which he said, “Don’t send the books till you get the money in advance.”
I smiled, got the books from London, mailed them to him and on his next visit told him that his son had immediately cleared the payment.
I feel lucky for having received such kindness and patronage from book lovers. I want to mention two persons — Prof DP Mukherjee (LU) and Chalapathi Rau, editor Associated Journals — who helped me a lot.
My friend, All-India Radio station director PC Chatterji, was transferred to Guwahati. There he met famous anthropologist Verrlier Elwin (advisor to North East Frontier Agency). Elwin was not able to find a book he had written. PC asked me to get it for him. Within three weeks I got the book from London and had it delivered to him. Elwin was very happy. Such patronage helped me build this shop over several decades.