Our bookseller emeritus
A portrait of the Capital’s iconic bookstore founder
Book Land, the first of his four Delhi bookstores, just outside the Janpath flea market. It continues to exist and is managed by his third son, Salim, a charmingly moody man who can be nice or indifferent, depending upon your luck at that moment.
In 1985, Mr Baig opened the first Midland in the brand new Aurobindo Market, an aesthetically challenging block constructed by Delhi Development Authority (the market’s small garden has a gigantic cement butterfly).
The other two outlets in South Extension I and Gurugram came later.
Like almost every long-time bookshops in the city, Midland stores too have a following. The one in Aurobindo Market is a beloved of many well-known writers such as Namita Gokhale who lives nearby in SDA Colony. For many old-time regulars to this market, the ritual is to first have a burger and a glass of soft drink at the nearby Wimpy’s (a fast-food legend in its own right but sadly, not open these days) and only then to step inside Midland to browse for the new releases.
While Midland might be loved by its patrons, it didn’t appeal to at least some of the city’s booksellers. Its crime — it was among the first shops in Delhi to sell books at 20% discount, a scheme that led the spoiled customers to demand similar discounts elsewhere. The late Anil Arora confessed his disappointment to this reporter on Midland’s pricing strategy on the eve of closing his bookshop, The Bookworm, in Connaught Place in 2008.
But at such an advanced age, just why can’t Mr Baig sit at home, safe from the virus, with wife, Sardar Begum, in west Delhi’s Paschim Vihar? “Coming to the shop is my habit,” he says in his cracking voice full of affection. “I cannot sit at home. Here I watch people, see the world go to and fro about me and I feel good.”
In the pre-corona days, Mr Baig, who is addressed as Babuji by his employees, reached the shop every morning at 11 and would leave by eight in the evening. But now he comes by 2pm.
It is tempting to implore the readers to give this iconic bookseller an immediate visit but these are dangerous times. Perhaps you might wait for the pandemic to recede, following which you might visit Mr Baig, hopefully still sitting like a monument at his usual spot.