Iconic 65-year-old Hyderabad bookstore to shut down

HYDERABAD: As hundreds of rare books and classics are dusted and neatly placed on the shelves every day, 55-year-old Sharafuddin Ansari Javed looks on wistfully, knowing it to be one of the final acts before the grand clearance.
For, 65 years after throwing open its doors to book lovers in the city, AA Husain and Co. in Abids will shut shop within a week to make way for a swanky multi-storeyed shopping mall.The mall builders have already started tearing down the rear side of the Arastu Trust Complex, a Wakf property which houses the big store, while teary-eyed employees recall the glory days.
"This book store was my livelihood and with my salary I ensured the education of my four daughters. My third daughter is doing her MBBS studies and I have no idea how to fund it now," said Sharafuddin, who has served in the store for the past 30 years. Javed, who knows the titles and authors of all the books in the store, is now on a lookout for a new job.
The AA Husain and Co., one of the landmarks of the city, has had a long history. It started in the mid-1940s as a store for imported products under the ownership of Abid Asgar Husain, a surgeon who got the title of Arastu Jar Jung from the 6th Nizam, Mahbub Ali Khan. The store was converted into a bookstore in 1949 by his son Riazat Husain. The current owner, Asif Husain Arastu, is the grandson of Riazat Husain.
Even though he will get back commercial space once the mall is completed in two years, Asif Husain Arastu has decided not to continue with the bookstore. Instead, he hopes to set up some other small business.

"Since 2010, the footfalls at the bookstore have dropped drastically. I believe it is because of the spurt of online bookstores. People find it convenient to buy books at either bookstore chains or online stores," Arastu said, adding that the business for independent sellers is no longer profitable.
In its prime, the bookstore was one of the favourite haunts of the city's prominent people, including late painter MF Hussain. It used to stock even imported books, including the Ladybird series and the Ladder series. It now stocks books of world-renowned authors such Orhan Pamuk, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, among others, Indian authors such as Rabindranath Tagore and Indian diaspora writers, including Jhumpa Lahiri, Anita Nair and Kiran Desai.
"Independent bookshops seem to be closing down, but most of us book lovers were expecting that AA Husain would remain open. The bookstore offered a personalized touch where the sellers knew what books you would like. There were even times when books were kept aside for frequenters," said Vijay Marur, a city-based theatre artiste. "The last standing independent bookstore in the city will now be in Jubilee Hills," he added.
While book lovers are obviously upset, those who will be most hit are the employees of the old store. "I don't know how I will eke out a living now. Life will no longer be the same," said an employee.