...Enjoying life with 'Books'

-- Rekindle the love for reading --

City lad opens Odisha’s first online bookstore

BHUBANESWAR: ‘Enjoying life with books’, the tagline of a bookshop, Carry On, exhibited at the Bhubaneswar Book Fair, tells a different tale about the increasing interest among the new generation readers in books. Soumya Prateek Sahu, proprietor of Carry On, who has started his book business online, claimed that it is the first of its kind in the State.

Only 22-year-old, Sahu, a Commerce graduate and presently doing a professional course in a reputed university, had started the online bookshop six months back through social networking website Facebook. Later, he used other social networking websites to ask the readers for book orders from them.

For the first time, his bookshop has taken part in the fair with a stall having more than two lakh books. The stall has varieties of latest books catering to the needs of different sections of readers.

“I choose the latest books which can woo the new generation readers as well as the passionate old readers. I think books are not for showcasing or beautifying the library but a source of inspiration and enjoyment which can generate new ideas as well as refresh the mind,” said Sahu.

Sahu while showing the varieties of fiction and nonfiction books by nationally and internationally-reputed authors said he turned his passion into a career by setting up of an online bookstore. He was a booklover and a voracious reader from his childhood, always purchasing books to satiate his hunger for knowledge. At this age, youth normally continue with their studies or run after jobs, but he wanted to be an entrepreneur by starting book business, which he loves very much.

Sahu ruled out the concept that readers in the capital city don’t have interest in books. He was pleasantly surprised when around 30,000 books were sold in the book fair on last Sunday. Everyday, they bring more than 30,000 books to meet the demands of readers. Most of the buyers are young and give order through phone and e-mail, Sahu said.

Besides the books in English, Bengali and Hindi, Sahu provides Odia books online as most of the online bookshops do not do so. He is going to launch his professional website very soon with several features which, he hopes, would help booklovers.

Sahu’s father LN Sahu, a former senior civil judge, is helping his son in shaping of his dream. “I wished him to be an entrepreneur,” said the father, adding, “I respect my son’s wish as I always advise him to follow his own heart.”

Sahu, who is in the process of penning a fiction, said he would set up a bookshop in the capital city where the readers and writers could meet each other and share their feelings. “We will start a new trend to rekindle the love for reading and promote the reading habit among the new generations to create a healthy and knowledgeable society,” he ended.