India, Feb. 8 -- Can Mumbai's Indie bookstores survive?

This was the topic of a talk held at the Asiatic Society on Friday evening. Hosted by Tinaz Nooshian, a culture writer, the talk featured Amrita Somaiya, director of the 14-year-old Kitab Khana in Fort, and Ahalya Naidu, part owner of Trilogy, a 11-year-old bookstore-cum-library in Bandra's Chuim village.

Somaiya and Naidu spoke about different challenges of running physical bookstores in the era of aggressive online discounts, such as sourcing books from publishers based in Delhi and the marketing-led turn of publishing houses. But both stressed on the need to nurture a community of readers who were not just buyers, but patrons invested in keeping the space alive and engaging. Thi...