New Book Land

New Book Land occupies a cramped, narrow stall tucked against the red sandstone walls of the Jantar Mantar complex. Its shelves are packed floor to ceiling with second-hand paperbacks, ranging from colonial-era surveys to dog-eared thrillers. The shop exists because Om Prakash, a former government clerk, decided to turn his personal library into a business in the late nineteen sixties. He kept the store open during the massive protests that often fill the street outside, selling novels to demonstrators seeking shade and quiet.