Wanhjara Café: a literary oasis

The roadside bookstore and cafe caters to villagers and city dwellers alike

HYDERABAD: Five kilometres up a winding country road outside Mirpurkhas, and out of the usual paths of the academia, stands in isolation an oasis of books - the Wanhjara [gypsy] Café.

This unusual Sunday book bazaar, located in Makhan Samo village, has a very rural theme. A nursery, named after a historic waterway 'Puraan', which sprung from River Indus, further adds to the ambiance. The place is also referred to as 'Aachar Kitaab Bazaar [Sunday book bazaar]'.

Spread around a dozen tree-trunk made tables, uncovered by any sort of shelter and set up on the side of the Mirpurkhas-Umerkot Road, is a variety of locally unavailable books.

Publications in English, Urdu and Sindhi are available at the book stall. PHOTO: EXPRESS

The eclectic collection encompasses a range of subjects - novels, poetry, history, politics, religion, biographies and textbooks. But the work on display, mainly published by locals, is limited to publications mostly available in Sindhi and Urdu languages. However, some books in the English language are also available.

The placement of the stalls on the edge of the road appears to be keeping customers teetering on the brink, with continuous movement of light to heavy traffic at their backs while they browse the dusty tomes. The dust flying from the movement of passing vehicles sprinkles over the books and the customers.

Alongside the stalls is a small tea area where customers can sit on wooden chairs and sip tea while they leisurely leaf through a selection of books, choosing which ones to purchase.

The atmosphere at the cafe is very different from average book stores. PHOTO: EXPRESS

The aura is somewhat delicately devised to attract both urban and rural residents to come, stay, browse and buy. This concept store, which offers concessional books at prices claimed to be lower than ordinary bookstores, is a brainchild of former MPA Ali Irfan Shah.

"The ordinary bookstores, their settings and collections don't seem to draw people," Shah says. "I like to have people dedicate exclusive time for book buying. They can travel a few kilometres outside the city's polluted, congested environment and give themselves up to the books."

For Shah, the idea is also to stir an interest in reading among the rural people, especially children and youth, by bringing otherwise unavailable reading material to their vicinity.

Readers can come and browse through books before purchasing them. PHOTO: EXPRESS

Among the prospective shoppers are people who travel between Mirpurkhas, Umerkot and Tharparkar districts through this link road. Ten weeks after its launch on January 1, it continues to pick up steam, according to Shahid Khaskheli, a Mirpurkhas-based journalist, who has partnered with Karachi-settled Shah and looks after the cafe every weekend.

On the first Sunday, only 42 books, including booklets, were sold. But the subsequent weeks brought a small surge in the number by a few dozens. "We are satisfied because it's not a profit-oriented venture. Rather our aim has been to instil and revive an interest in literature among the people."

Khaskheli is happy that many children show up at the stall to search through the books, even if many cannot buy them. As per his assessment, the percentage of regular buyers and students is encouraging.

Handicrafts are also available at the cafe. PHOTO: EXPRESS

"Thanks to Facebook, the cafe is becoming known to everyone in this region," says Manzoor Laghari, a resident of Kot Ghulam Muhammad, who came with a group of six friends after planning the visit a day earlier. "We suggested to them [the cafe's management] that they should create a space for political discussions to bring the old cafe culture of the cities to this place," he said.

Pervez Haider, who works for a non-profit organisation, finds bookshops in Mirpurkhas devoid of good collections. He contends that these shops also usually do not attract potential readers because of their pedestrian disposition. "Unlike those bookshops, the cafe is much more out of the ordinary. You find a tea cafe, a nursery, a sculptor, embroidered goods and a variety of activities here every Sunday."

Sculptor Kanjhi Kolhi joined the cafe during its fifth week. He plans to create and sell his art, which hitherto remained limited to creating idols of Hindu gods. He said that he is creating a chinkara and swamp deer for display of his craftsmanship at the cafe.

"My plans are to turn the place into a cultural village with the bookshop as its prominent feature," says Shah. On the 10th week of its inception, embroidered clothes, purses and other items for sale were also added to the cafe.

Lal Bux, a resident of Mirwah Gorchani, suggested the cafe stamp all the books they sell. "This will help introduce this bookshop to the people who do not know about the cafe and will also preserve the cafe's name in case if they somehow do not manage to continue with this enterprise."