Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Feeding the reading habit

I do a lot of stuff online. But if I can help it, I prefer to read the hard copy. So, I guess it will be quite a long while before I buy the Kindle or the Desi Wink! That fine magazine Caravan has its whole issue online and so does a host of other magazines I read, such as Open, Tehelka and Outlook. The last two are available in Kochi (two-three days after publication). But not Caravan and Open. I have stopped hoping to ever get Seminar or Biblio:-)

I do not like to subscribe magazines. I would rather buy them at the book stalls. Open used to be available at MG Road, but not anymore. Delhi Press (Caravan's publisher) had a stall at a book fair held recently and they were trying to sell the subcription scheme and I tried telling them to sell it at the bookshops.

That brings me to the topic of absence of good bookshops in Kochi. Paico is now in serious decline (I think this began after the death of the elder Pai, the founder), DC's non-fiction collection is really not up to the mark. When the Reliance Timeout opened at a local mall, many people I know were oohing aahing about its collection. But what a disappointment! It is more of an entertainment zone, with a toy shop, accessories shop and multi-media shop.

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