Name: Ajit Das (picture left)

Occupation: Owns and runs Orchid Lending Library at 115B Rashbehari Avenue (opposite Triangular Park).

Romance range: If you are a south Calcutta resident and have at some point between 1980s and now developed a habit for Mills and Boons, chances are that you have heard of Orchid. This tiny shop is a storehouse of bestsellers — Sidney Sheldon to Danielle Steele, Robert Ludlum to Grisham to Nora Robert. And the best thing about this library-cum-store is the impeccable condition the books are kept in. All books are neatly wrapped in cellophane, sewed, and have a bright orange or green sticker with the library’s name. If you are unable to decide between one romance novel and another you can count on 67-year-old Das’s advice to make the right choice. Although he insists that he hasn’t read a single MB himself. But he knows that you are bound to like books by Miranda Lee, Sara Wood, Lynne Graham, Susan Napier and Carol Mortimer if you are into MBs.

From the footpath: Orchid has been around since 1978. “I started the shop on the footpath opposite Basanti Devi College with an investment of less than Rs 500,” says Das. He did not start off with Mills and Boons. “The first lot I bought were second-hand books by James Hadley Chase, Alistair MacLean and a set of comic books,” he smiles. The first person to recommend MBs to him was Chandan Basu (Jyoti Basu’s son), he says. “His first wife used to take books from me and asked for Mills and Boons. I asked what that was. Basu told me that they are romance novels that will sell well.”

Book business: But why a book shop? “I tried other trades. They didn’t appeal and I liked reading books.” The business flourished and by ’86 he had two bookstalls on the footpath. After Operation Sunshine he had to move to a small place at Hindustan Park. “By then I had the addresses of some of my regulars. So I wrote to all of them when I moved to this place in Triangular Park ,” he says.

Personal choice: A bookworm who runs a library couldn’t be happier, you would think. “I like reading Premendra Mitra and Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay. I’d have liked to stock Bengali books. But there isn’t enough space. Nor enough readers,” he sighs.