Abids for Hyderabadi intellectuals

Perhaps Hyderabadis opted this. Daryaganj in Delhi, Church Street in Bangalore and College Street in Kolkata have been popular hubs for many generations for those scouting for second hand books. Now Abid Ali Nadeem Road, popularly known as Abids is making its presence felt too.

Estimated at over $2 billion, the books industry in India is growing at about 20%. Of the total industry, more than 10% makes for second hand books, estimates suggest.

The Hyderabad’s City Commercial Centre Abids is always busy with visitors from different parts of India and World on Week days. Now, it is engaging students/job holders/intellectuals on Weekends to come across its streets by offering discounts on old books and the books which may not be stocked in books stores.

It is a weekend sport for those who nurture a sense of romance with old, weather-worn yet affordable books; second-hand book shops continue to be the destination. Musty, brown and weather-worn, some of us like our books like that. For reasons diverse — be it affordability or the thrill of a rare find — second hand book shops continue to have a charm that is hard to resist.

Though the competition from online chains is getting big, the sellers seem to be well prepared to attract and make the customer happy.

The Book sellers offer a wide range of books covering almost every industry vertical – right from accountancy, to agriculture, banking, aviation, computer and software, ecology, environment, education, electronics and engineering, entertainment, management, media, journalism etc.

There are around 1500 people all over the city whose livelihood is dependent on Second hand book selling, though it is considered to be an organized sector, the government has never had a soft corner for these sellers. Other than Abids road, Koti, Erragadda, lakdi ka pul are some other popular destinations.