An interesting book, a good cup of coffee and the hours can go by. We are not talking about the cafes in Hyderabad where, in the off-peak hours, you are likely to find someone poring over a book or working on a laptop. Think of a cafe attached to a bookstore that can transform into an adda for the exchange of ideas, reading recommendations or playing a boardgame. Qahveh Khaneh, the compact cafe at the entrance of Akshara Books in Journalists Colony, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad, is built on such a concept.
In the Middle East, Qahveh Khaneh refers to coffee houses where people socialise, exchange news and read. Abhilasha Atluri, the entrepreneur behind Hyderabad’s Qahveh Khaneh, might have borrowed a Middle-Eastern name for her venture but she mooted the idea of starting a cafe attached to Akshara Books on returning from her college stint in the United States, where she saw Barnes & Noble bookstores adjacent to Starbucks.
Akshara is among the last few independent bookstores in the city. The store, set up in the 1990s, has changed a few addresses before it moved to its current location eight years ago. In its early years, Akshara set a precedent by hosting visiting authors in interactive sessions with readers. With the opening of Qahveh Khaneh in January 2022, the store has revived the hosting small events, calling them ‘Guftagoos at QK’. A few photographs on a moodboard of the cafe documents vignettes of these events. There will be more.
The cafe is limited to the small garden area leading into the store and is air-conditioned to ensure comfort from the searing summer heat. “We do not have a kitchen area; so the menu is simple — coffees and cookies; we will be introducing muffins soon,” says Abhilasha.
The idea is to let the books take precedence and create an atmosphere where readers interact with each other and the store personnel rather than making a quick purchase and moving away.
The team that runs the store knows regular customers by name and is aware of their reading habits. I deliberated over a copy of Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey and the store manager Kavitha tells me that the title has received good feedback from previous buyers. This informal, personal vibe sets an independent bookstore apart.
The store went in for a new look in 2019 to make the approximately 1500 square feet area appear more spacious. The pandemic has been tough on several businesses. During the lockdowns, Akshara too waited in hope of better tidings. Both Kavitha and Lakshmi, the proprietor, agree that the sale of books witnessed an uptick in the last two years. “We had new customers and observed that more people picked up fiction,” says Lakshmi.
For bookstores, the biggest threat has been from e-commerce giants who fork out attractive discounts. Lakshmi is aware that Akshara cannot compete with the e-commerce players: “We strive for existence. A few customers compare the online price and the bookstore price. We explain to them that it would not be feasible to run the store if we offer huge discounts. Many of them understand.”
The Akshara and the Qahveh Khaneh teams hope that the store continues to be patronised by old and new customers. We concur, for the sake of independent bookstores that have become a vanishing breed.
