Time to fall in love with books all over again
Pustakwale Ashay and Rutica Walambe bring books on wheels from Pune to Thane
When the Covid-19 pandemic broke out last year, two book romantics started a mobile library for housing societies in Pune. Called Queen of the Deccan, it began with one society and spread to hundred others in the following months. In less than a year, there was a new buzz around the place – people had begun to fall in love with books all over again.
Run by Ashay and Rutica Walambe, the mobile library’s journey is called Pustakwale. Ashay told FPJ that they went to a friend’s place when the restrictions were lifted. They took a book for his five-year-old son. “He said there were no book stores
nearby and if they wished to
buy any they would need to go too far, which wasn’t possible in the pandemic situation,” said Ashay, recalling how the idea came about. The Walambes began the Pustakwale adventure with their friend’s housing society in
Baner, Pune. On October 15, on the occasion of Dussehra, the library wheeled into Thane.
Ashay said they keep books for all age groups in Marathi, English and Hindi and cover all genres. He added that mostly 7-15 year olds are the biggest band of readers and both kids and adults prefer fiction.
Thane's Piccadilly Edgware cooperative housing society secretary Sushant Joshi said Pustakwale books display received enthusiastic response. “The exhibition-cum-sale was scheduled for 11 am to 6 pm but went on till 8 pm. The concept of creative books and workbooks along with story books, biographies, novels was appreciated by every society member,” he said.
On asking about permissions from housing societies for implementing the venture, Ashay said all the societies they approached knew the importance of books, hence the concept was very well accepted. He added, “One hurdle, though, has been society fees to set up a stall, but most of them appreciated our concept and provided discounts. We ensured that the discounts are passed on to customers.” He said housing societies have been small cultural centres in the city and he starts by setting up a curated mobile bookstore.
The Walambes reward their offline sales with an online portal, as well as social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, and Whatsapp) for online orders. During the sales, they provide last mile communication with the consumer. Pustakwale has executed 200 setups in 150-plus societies in Pune in 15 months, selling more than 10,000 books to over 3,000 families with a turnover of close to Rs 3 million.