Ram Advani Booksellers

A Haven Of Civilisation

Ram Advani Booksellers is a famous literary landmark of the city. Ram Advani is to Lucknow what the late T. N. Shanbag was to Bombay and Bangalore. Farzana Behram Contractor talks to the man revered by over four generations of book-minded people.

For 60 years now Ram Advani has shaped many a life, helping, guiding, assisting and advising all kinds of book-worms! It will not be an exaggeration to say, generations of Indian and foreign historians have built their collections with the help of this one man.

When I walked into his bookshop in Mayfair building at Hazratgunj, Ram Advani was in an animated discussion with two very bright-looking overseas youngsters. The seating arrangement was rather quaint, right in the middle of the room with book cases and shelves all around. When I started to speak to Ram Advani, the young man who was English, excused himself in Urdu, so chaste, I was startled. But he was surprised that I was surprised. “You speak such perfect English yourself,” he said in mock rebuke. Yes, yes, old chap, but it’s not quite the same. Half of India does. However Ram Advani was quick to enlighten me. He said there are many international students who come to Lucknow for research, to learn Urdu, etcetera. He said, “Lucknow is probably the most important of Indian cities with access to such vast amounts of archival, research material. David Lunn here is one such PhD student who is here to tap that material. The interest in art and culture continues despite setbacks."

Chatting with Advani was like being transported into a bygone era. Where enough emphasis could not be placed on the importance of culture and conversation and how much could be gleaned by the simple habit of reading books. “What kind of books do you stock?” I enquired. “Oh, mostly sociology, anthropology, economics and literature. We do get a small quantity of bestsellers, but never fiction. On the whole, Lucknow enjoys a good readership.”

And how did it all begin? “Well, it was when my family and I settled in India after the partition.” When he started, Advani wasn’t new to the business. “My grandfather ran a chain of bookshops, J. Ray and Sons, in north Punjab. In 1946, I was in charge of his bookshop at Lahore and in mid-1947, I had to leave Lahore for India. I first went to Simla, but it was very dreary there and not much business. When I migrated to Lucknow (in May 1947), I was temporarily given a small portion in Gandhi Ashram to run a book shop by Congress President, Acharya Kripalani. Then it so happened that Mr. Larkins, the manager of Lawrence & Mayo, casually told me that they were winding up in Lucknow and offered me their space. I am a tenant here since 1951. I loved Lucknow, I came a bitter man, but it seemed like paradise here, in spite of all that was happening in the country. It was a gentle city. Even today drive 50 miles out of town and you find people speaking in soft tones,” he said with misty eyes. “Hazratganj used to be the place to see and be seen. Patronised by the aristocracy and the upper classes, it was also a centre of culture and conversation. It was the perfect place for a book shop.” Today, Ram Advani Booksellers is a Hazratganj landmark, and the eponymous owner is held in great esteem and affection by generations of readers and scholars, who have been customers and friends. Advani’s oldest customer is “the House of Raja Sahib Mahmudabad. I feel proud that I am serving the fourth generation.”

A happy man amidst books, this octogenarian (born, October 12, 1921), now running 88 years, is only too glad to come to his book shop every morning and immerse himself in the joy of discovering yet another good book.