Indian bookseller Anup Bamhi, owner of Faqir Chand bookstore, who "was gently proud of his family-run establishment, one of Delhi's most iconic bookstores, located in the capital's upscale Khan Market," died January 10, the Hindustan Times reported. He was 64.
Although he was a lawyer, "the city knew him for his bookshop. He was very charming, always willing to strike up conversations with customers about books--and also about food..... In the bookstore, he would sit behind the counter with wife, Mamta, both infusing their bookstore with a mom-and-pop ambiance. At home, while hosting friends in their drawing room, husband and wife would sing duets from old Hindi films. Sometimes, they would sing in the bookstore, too."
Faqir Chand opened in 1931 as the Oriental Book Shop in Peshawar Cantonment, ThePrint reported. After partition in 1947, the owner moved to Delhi and set up a shop in Khan Market, where it was renamed Faqir Chand Book Shop in 1951. After Chand's death, the shop was overseen by his wife, Uma, and granddaughter Mamta. In 1992, Mamta married Bahmi, "and soon, the couple would become an inseparable part of the experience of the book shop. It had been a family tradition, one that continues through the ages, to spend the day at the shop, with a constant supply of chai."
Over the past two years, Mamta Bahmi and their youngest son, Abhinav Bahmi, were more available at the shop, but Anup Bahmi also made occasional appearances.
In a tribute, Congress leader Pawan Khera wrote: "Anup Bahmi will always be an institution for book lovers. Bookstores like Faqir Chand and Sons have made Delhi a loveable city. I have seen several bookstores close down due to assault by the online culture. I wish Faqir Chand and Sons continues to live on. That will be the real tribute to Anup and his life long affair with books."