E-commerce era book shopping and the joy of buying used books

A typical family owned bookstore - row upon dusty row of books, stacked in back to back shelves with just enough space for one to squeeze through them, a literary ocean beckoning the book lovers to explore its depths. 

I have read many an article mourning the closure of such family owned bookstores across India with its knowledgeable owners who couldn't hold out against the competition from ridiculously discounted prices offered by e-commerce sites.  This is not another eulogy about such bookstores. What sense does it make to go half way across town to buy books at MRP when the books can be ordered online with a great saving on the MRP? 

Frankly, I have never liked going to fancy, brightly lit bookstores with their neatly arranged shelves of books with 'calculated' space between the shelves, taller wall shelves and shorter shelves in the space between to give a sense of the expanse of the shop in prime locality in the city. It feels like shopping for grocery and probably that's how these shops view their inventory. Not to forget, these shops offer discounts during festivals, like reading is a festival time activity. 

Then there were these family owned bookstores - romanticised by so many well-written eulogies - tucked away discretely in small lanes, every inch of space made use of, walkways grudgingly left in between shelves, an ocean of books arranged in some order which wasn't always maintained and yet the owner had track of the books gone wayward. Horizontally kept books above the vertically arranged books, and layers of hidden books behind. Every book put there by the owner as one would in a personal collection. A treasure trove of old, out of print books even, books/authors long forgotten by the world hiding somewhere in some musty-dusty corner just waiting to be rediscovered. For those who loved to chat while looking for books, there was the erudite owner who knew the books in the shop like a gemologist would his stones. One could spend as much time as one liked in the shop without drawing any objection. I have been served coffee at the hour the owner and his couple of assistants partook the refreshment. These were the shops that stocked gem of expensive books made affordable by lesser known local publications with narrow profit margins without begrudging them the use of limited space. These shops definitely offered a good discount, especially to regular customers but were no match to the kind of discounts the e-commerce sites offered. 

As ordering books online became the sensible thing to do, I was torn between the ease of ordering and the possibility of saving money on the one hand and the satisfying experience of buying books in a shop on the other.  To me, buying books in a store is like watching a good movie or an hour with a good friend - has a rejuvenating effect.  I was not the only one who faced this dilemma, majority of book readers did too and the e-commerce sites won hands down and the family-run bookstores lost out on the patronage of their regulars and many shut shop.

In this era of 'Innovate or Perish', the fancy, big bookstores diversified into stocking toys, gifts, stationery, some even electronic items. This was around the time that I discovered Blossom Book House in Bangalore. The book store which started in 2001 also stocks 'used' books. It was the perfect combination of low prices offered by e-com sites and the experience of buying books in a book store that I loved so much. I have spent innumerable hours wandering around the used books section, discovering new authors, unheard of titles of familiar authors, knocking off books while maneuvering in the limited space and discovering new genres. I sometimes get this feeling that some books have just been waiting for me. And the beauty of buying used books is, it comes with its own little story- signature with date of the previous owner, a short message of 'good wishes'  if the book was gift, a comment here, a note there - all making the reading of the book more interesting and many a times it's made me wonder why the book, especially if it was a gift was given away.

At Blossom's, price of the books is surprising and the collection is just amazing. I have never stepped out of the shop without having picked up at least 6 months of reading worth of books. That place is a paradise and what's heartening is there are such bookstores coming up all across the country. The discerning book lover who used to go book hunting on footpaths for second-hand books is embracing this niche development with open arms.

And in case you are wondering if the selling and buying of used books is legal, let me assure you, it is, courtesy the doctrine of 'first sale' which is a bridge between the rights of the author of the book (under the Indian Copyright Act, 1957) and the rights of a buyer of the book over that copy of the book purchased (under the Transfer of Property Act, 1882). On purchasing a book, the author's rights are exhausted (as far as deriving revenue from further sales is concerned) for that particular copy of the book and the buyer can sell it and pocket the money.

As more such shops open across the country, it's a whole new world waiting to be explored.

An 1891 historical novel by creator of Sherlock Holmes

Inexpensive Indian publications

This book on an e-commerce site on April 20, 2016 costs Rs 5,000.

Switzerland Holiday Planner

Switzerland with its snow-capped towering mountains, lovely lakes, picture-postcard villages and towns amidst this lovely setting is a tourist's idea of heaven but a holiday planner's nightmare. 

The Alps spread across the country and every mountain top made easily accessible by a super efficient transport network; huge blue lakes on the low lands with towns and cities around them, each with a history to boot - No matter how long the holiday in the country, it probably wouldn't be enough to take in all the sights of this picturesque landlocked country. 

Switzerland is more than just the mountains, more than the mountains and the famous cities. Based on the time of the year and weather of the day, what can be done would be different, hence, the trick is to plan in advance accommodating a bit of everything at the same time keeping the plan flexible enough to allow for the change in the mood of the weather. This is what we did in March with our 9 days. 

Day	Switzerland – March 2016	Transport cost CHF/ person
Day 1	Travelled from Paris to Meiringen via Lausanne. Bought the Swiss Half fare card at the Lausanne station before proceeding to Meiringen, changing trains in Bern, Spiez and Interlaken Ost(‘East’ in German). The train journey between Lausanne and Vevey is right through the world famous Lavaux 'UNESCO world heritage' region of terraced vineyards with lake Geneva and alpine mountains in the backdrop.  The half fare card costs CHF 120 per person + CHF 32 for train from Lausanne to Meiringen. (All fares mentioned are at 50% discount)	152
Day 2	Overnight the weather changed and it was snowing all over the region. So instead of venturing far, we took the cable car from Meiringen to Planplatten (7,365 feet). In the intermediate cable car stop of Magisalp we hired sledges for as cheap as CHF 4 each and had a good time sledging though at times the visibility was as low as 100 metres. Return Cable car trip - CHF 30	30
Day 3	The weather had cleared since the previous day but the forecast for the coming days looked even better so we decided to give it one more day before heading into the mountains and instead went to Montreux making a leisurely start at 9AM. We changed trains at Interlaken Ost, Spiez and Zweisimmen. The Zweisimmen to Montreux route was by the Golden Pass Express and the journey through the snowed out landscape from within the comfort of a heated train was very beautiful. (CHF 31) Scenery on the journey aboard the Golden Pass Express  Scenery on the journey aboard the Golden Pass Express  Scenery on the journey aboard the Golden Pass Express Checked the live feed of the Rochers-de-Naye webcam at the exclusive Golden Pass line information cum ticket counter in Montreux station, as there was still some cloud cover at the top we followed the direction boards from the station and walked down a couple of flight of stairs to lake Geneva. Spent a while at the promenade taking photographs and eating a snack before taking bus 201 going towards Vevey and getting off at the Chillon Castle (pronounced ‘Shiyon’).  Had read a good deal about this 12th century island-castle on lake Geneva and we thoroughly enjoyed going around the castle. Took us a good 2 hours armed with an audio guide and the brochure of the castle to complete our visit. (Entrance fee to the castle is CHF 12.5 per person, no discount on the Half fare card + Audio guide another CHF 5 per person.)(Can’t recollect the bus fare we paid) A vineyard in Montreux with Lake Geneva in the background Chillon Castle, Montreux We took the bus back to Montreux Gare (‘station’ in French). The clouds on Rochers-de-Naye (6,699 feet) had completely cleared, so we bought tickets and took the cog wheel train up the mountain. It was very windy up there, something the visuals don’t show, so could spend very little time out in the open. Spent a while in the restaurant and took the last train back to Montreux. Especially loved the view of Lake Geneva and the now familiar Chillon Castle from the train journey. (CHF 34.20) View from the train  journey from Montreux to Rochers-de-Naye View from Rochers-de-Naye as the cog wheel train  is about to enter a tunnel on its way back to Montreux We took the fastest connection back to Meiringen, changing trains at Visp, Spiez and Interlaken Ost.(CHF 39.50)	105
Day 4	As forecast, it was a glorious day. One last check of the feeds from webcams in the Jungfrau region and we skipped breakfast at the hotel and boarded a 6:14AM train from Meiringen and headed to Jungfraujoch (11,333 feet). We changed trains at Interlaken Ost, Lauterbrunnen and at Kleine Scheidegg to the railway line built in 1912 which passing through tunnels in Eiger and Monch took us to the ‘Top of Europe’, stopping at 2 places in between the 50 minute journey with a 5 minute halt at each stop to view and admire the scenery from big windows. View from one of the stops en route to Jungfraujoch We spent some time at the viewing platform below the Sphinx observatory (11,782 feet) in -14 degree Celsius but with the amazing view spread out around us, Monch (13,475 feet) in almost touching distance and the Sun and Alpine Coughs keeping us company, spent 20 minutes comfortably, clicking loads of photos. Back home as I go through the photos, I realise just how impossible it is to capture the beauty of the landscape in its entirety. Aletsch glacier from atop Jungfraujoch There are many other things to do at Jungfraujoch – shopping for souvenirs and chocolates; wooden sculptures, paintings of alpine landscape and the ‘chocolate in the making’ to take photos with; various Swiss watch brands to ogle at, if not buy; photographs and instruments of the time when the station was built to admire; and memories of those who lost their lives in building the station to spare a thought to… On our way down, we stopped at Kleine Schedegg and lunched on vegetarian ‘Rostizza’ at a restaurant in the station before heading down to the charming town of Lauterbrunnen which rests in a deep valley surrounded by mighty vertical mountain walls. A 10 minute hike from the station brought us to the Staubbach Falls which descends from a height of over 800 feet, it was down to a trickle in winter, as if saving up energy to look spectacular in summer when the snow melts. Lauterbrunnen View of  Lauterbrunnen from the train journey to Jungfraujoch  View of Wengen from the train journey to Jungfraujoch A round trip from Meiringen to Jungfraujoch - CHF 115	115
Day 5	A check of the webcams and we decided to go to First. An 8 AM start after breakfast at the hotel and we headed to Grindelwald via Interlaken Ost. Grindelwald seemed more like a city rather than a small mountain town. We took a bus from outside the station to the start of cable cars to First. First is especially popular with skiers. On reaching First, we did the cliff walk on the metal bridge around rocky cliffs. Then we hired 2 sledges at CHF 15 each. There are 2 routes to choose from - one, where we had to hike uphill, dragging the sledge all the way to Faulhorn (8,795 feet) past the Bachalpsee lake (7,431 feet) and then sledge down all the way down to Grindelwald. The hike up the slopes alone would have taken at the very least 2.5 hours. Cliff walk on First Cliff walk on First The other option, which we choose, was to hike up about 40% of the route short of Bachalpsee lake and start sledging from there down to the point where the slope joins the second stop of Bort (5,150 feet) on the Grindelwald-First cable car route. Mind you, dragging a sledge uphill is like taking an unwilling dog for a walk. Took us a good 1.5 hours to get to this point from First. The first two slopes from the start of sledge route are the most challenging as the slopes are quite steep. Having tackled the first 2 slopes, the challenge further on are the open slopes on one side to stay away from, the path is quite wide but it sure pays to play it safe. After crossing these 2 milestones, the pine tree lined slopes get narrower but inclination so gradual that even riding the sledge we enjoyed the scenery. This was my favourite part of the route. Going downhill watch out for hikers. Check out for the sledge routes and options here: http://www.grindelwaldbus.ch/en/sledging The hiking trail from First to Bachalpsee lake  The danger from snow bound activities is very real. There is a hospital right across the street from the cable car start point in Grindelwald, discreetly hidden behind a building on the road. Be careful, follow instructions and guidelines at all times and try not to bite off more than you can chew. We did not go up to the Bachalpsee lake as the lake is frozen in winter, but have read great reviews of the beauty of the place in summer. Check the video of the lake in summer here: http://www.jungfrau.ch/en/tourism/destinations/grindelwald-first/360-degree-panorama/ Cable car return trip from Grindelwald to First – CHF 29. Return bus trip from Grindelwald train station to First cable car point – CHF 6 Return train journey from Meiringen to Grindelwald – CHF 23.80	59
Day 6	Having had quite an adventure the previous day we decided to spend the day leisurely and decided to take a boat across Lake Thun, get off at Thun and take a train to Bern and go around the old town area. Being winter, there was just one boat leaving Interlaken around 12:30PM. We took bus 21 (don’t remember the fare paid) from outside the Interlaken Ost station and got off at Neuhaus, which is the boat boarding point in Interlaken. We had a lot of time on hand, we watched Gulls and a pair of Mute Swans and Eurasian Coots in water, clicked photos by the lake, sat by the lake and ate a chocolate croissant though we weren’t hungry and eventually ‘Schilthorn’ came along at her scheduled time. The closest the ‘ship’ was going to Thun was till Hilterfingen due to water level and we took a bus from there to Thun. The ship is more of a restaurant with 1st (upper deck) and 2nd classes also with an open deck. We passed by the lovely town of Spiez on the way. Ship boarding point at Neuhaus View from the journey across Lake Thun View from the journey across Lake Thun View from the journey across Lake Thun At the Thun information centre, where we picked up a map of Thun, we got to know that the shops in the old town would all close by 5:30PM in both Thun and Bern and so we changed our plans and decided to walk around Thun instead of going to Bern. The picturesque setting of river Aare flowing out of Lake Thun through the town; the stone paved old town with the lovely ambience created by the stalls selling cloths, food, semi precious stones, hand bags and more; the castle built in 1190 AD; the rebuilt church (‘Stadkirche’, ‘City Church’ in German) next door with its origins going back to 10th century AD where we enjoyed a music concert in the evening sure made us forget the UNESCO heritage site of Bern old town. The views from the castle and the church-the highest point of Thun-are beautiful. We also passed by the statue of Fulehung, the fool who was a court jester who had mocked the Thun and Bernese soldiers as lazy in the Burgundian Wars in 1476 AD. In September every year, the town celebrates a folk festival where the person wearing the fool’s mask is teased from the castle all the way to the town hall. Thun  The Town hall square in the 'old town' part of Thun with the stalls around. The Thun castle is in the background  Statue of Fulehung, Thun We took a train from Thun after the concert at around 10PM. Meiringen to Interlaken Ost – CHF 6.40 Boat from Interlaken Ost to Thun – CHF 8 (approximate amount. I don’t recollect the exact amount) Train from Thun to Meiringen with a change in Interlaken Ost – CHF 13.50	28
Day 7	One last goodbye to Sherlock Holmes (the statue, of course), an honorary citizen of Meiringen, in front of the Sherlock Holmes’ museum, (It was here that Holmes and Dr.Watson stayed before Holmes’ fatal encounter with Prof. Moriarty at the nearby Reichenbach Falls) and we moved from Meiringen to Lucerne (‘Luzern’ in German). The train journey from Meiringen to Lucerne is very pretty. In winter, when we made the journey, the train ascended to a white carpeted Brunig pass (3,307 feet) and underwent change of scenery as it descended altitude and passed through pretty little green carpeted villages, interspersed by pretty lakes of Lungern and Sarnen and the short river Sarner. I especially loved the village of Giswil. Giswil village as seen from the train Reuss river which drains lake Lucerne flows through the city of Lucerne and a 669 feet long 12th century covered wooden bridge (Chapel Bridge) across this river with a fortification tower is the most popular monument in the city or perhaps it’s the dying lion carved into a stone wall in 1820 to commemorate the massacre of 760 Swiss guards in Paris in 1792 during the French Revolution. I can’t put it better than Mark Twain who described it as, “the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world.” The agony on the face of the lion is so real, the dagger on the lion’s back twisted my heart. Chapel Bridge, Lucerne The trees in their winter 'attire' around Lake Lucerne, Lucerne   In our wanderings around the city we came across the Church of St Leodegar, a beautiful church with 2 pointed towers with origins from 735 AD. There is a lovely water fountain in front of the church, memorial plaques and graves around the church in a tranquil setting. There are many museums (including the Swiss transport museum and Alpinium Museum, opposite to the Lion monument, with 3D mountains which must have been a wonderful visual treat, a 100 years back, when it was created-I liked the old photographs of climbers and the climbing gear used back then) and a vibrant cultural scene if you can make time for it from the mountains surrounding the city – Titlis, Pilatus and Rigi.  Anytime of the day is a wonderful time to sit by lake Lucerne or by the Chapel bridge, sipping a cup of hot chocolate and watch Mute Swans, Mallards, Eurasian Coots, Tufted Ducks and a couple of different types of Gulls go about their life. On the tree lined walkway by the lake, we also sat and listened to a concert by a Blackbird. A short walk after dinner at 10PM and we saw all the birds had settled down for the night except the Coots who were nowhere near settling down. Meiringen to Lucerne – CHF 11.70 Alpinium Museum – CHF 6 (no discount on the half fare card)	12
Day 8	My heart was set on Mt Rigi but it was a cloudy day and Rigi (5,899 feet) was in clouds, so we took a train from Lucerne to Engelberg instead and then a short (free) bus ride to the cable cars that took us up to Mt Titlis (10,623 feet). I particularly enjoyed the journey through the sparsely inhabited green countryside surrounded by high rise forested mountain slopes. Landscape en route to Engelberg The cable car, the rotating cable car for the last leg of the ascent and the ice flyer ride at the top all came free with the Tell pass. As we ascended, we literally left the clouds behind and rose above into clear weather from where the clouds looked part of the topography. The cliff walk at the top is the highest elevation suspension bridge on the continent. There is also a glacier cave and lots of activities for kids and adults. I would especially have loved to go boating on the mountain lake of Trubsee, but the lake freezes up in winter.   Rising above the clouds on the cable car ride from Engelberg to Mt Titlis 'Ice flyer' ride atop Mt Titlis View of Engelberg from the cable car ride up to Mt Titlis  Back to Lucerne by 4PM, we took a boat on lake Lucerne from the quay (‘Bahnhofquai’) just across the train station. For getting back to Lucerne the connection at that hour was to get off at Beckenried and take the last boat of the day back to Lucerne, which would arrive 6 minutes from our getting off. We were apprehensive of the possibility of not reaching in time to be able to get on the returning boat, so we had enquired about the alternate way of getting back to Lucerne but all that apprehension and enquiries were unfounded and unnecessary. The Swiss transport system is very efficient and works like a well oiled and maintained machine. Six minutes was a lot of time, we could have gone to the restaurant across the road, picked up a sandwich and reached back as the boat to Lucerne docked. Not that we did it. Landscape across a journey on Lake Lucerne We basically did the route that we would have done had we gone to Mt Rigi. We sailed touching the towns of Weggis and Vitznau. We got a beautiful view of these towns, interceded by lovely landscape of closer, greener mountains and the distant snow covered peaks beyond, party shrouded in clouds. The night lit sight of Lucerne was especially lovely. The boat ride was also free with the Tell pass. Lucerne at dusk Return Engleberg to Titlis cable car ride – CHF 89 (full fare rate) and the ice flyer ride – CHF 12 (there is no reduction with the half fare card on this) Return boat trip from Lucerne to Beckenried – CHF 51 (full fare rate) A 2 day tell pass costs CHF 100 per person. Thanks to www.MySwissApls.com, we were aware of the winter offer of hotels giving Tell card free and so were able to ask for a voucher at the hotel and collect the pass at the information centre in the railway station. I don’t think we would have got the voucher at the hotel if we had not asked for it.
Day 9	We took in the sights of a farmers market by the Chapel bridge as we walked to the station and took a train to Zurich. Lucerne to Zurich Flughafen (airport) – CHF14.50	14.50

Planning a Swiss Holiday: Starting with, which places to visit, where to stay in the region, how many change in hotels to make while holidaying in the country, which travel pass to use...the list of decisions to make is endless.

Places to visit: Like any other holiday destination, the places to visit has to be a trade-off between the popular 'must sees' and the non-touristy hidden gems. There are beautiful places all around the country, familiarise yourself with the choices available and then look around what hidden gems you can add to the schedule. Whenever I am planning a holiday to an unfamiliar place, I start with checking the itineraries of tour companies. It gives me a fair idea of the place and more importantly where the crowd is headed. 

Where to stay: Having decided which places to visit, the real challenge of which city/town/village to stay in begins. The places to visit in Switzerland are spread across the region with endless possibilities. To make matters complicated, googling for which place to stay in, say in the Jungfrau region, will take you right into the 'Grindelwald vs Lauterbrunnen vs Wengen vs Murren' battleground. Everything in Switzerland is expensive, including the accommodation, so the choice of where to stay could be taken out of your hand and be decided by the hotel with the best offer on one of many hotel search sites. No matter where you stay, there is a super efficient train network that makes commuting hassle free but which pass to choose from is another nightmare altogether.

How many bases?: Keeping the schedule flexible enough to accommodate for change in weather and staying in a place that's close to the places of interest are both equally important. But remember, any change in hotels will cost you up to half a day in shifting.   

Purchase of train tickets: We downloaded the SBB Mobile Application, filled in details of passengers and credit card. From then on, it was a very simple process of buying tickets every day. This App is also very handy to check train schedules. The App can be downloaded from: http://www.sbb.ch/en/travelcards-and-tickets/e-tickets/mobileticket.html

Short time for platform change? Even 5 minutes is quite enough time to comfortably change platforms at a station to catch connecting trains as long as you are not encumbered by too much luggage.

Carrying luggage in trains: If you have a lot of luggage, get into the compartment with the bicycle symbol on it. Doors to these compartments invariably have a ‘bridge’ to the platform which makes dragging suitcases very easy. There is also lot of space to store the luggage in these compartments, away from the regular pathways.

Calculating train fare from Interlaken Ost: To calculate cost of train fare from Interlaken Ost instead of Meiringen, subtract CHF 12.8 per day (half fare cost).

Swiss travel passes: Once the day wise plans are in place, the pass that's most beneficial has to be calculated by adding up the fare of daily trips (www.sbb.ch/en/) and comparing it to the cost of passes on offer. There isn't an easy way out of this.  

All amounts in CHF	3 Days	4 Days	8 Days	15 Days
Swiss Travel Pass 1 Class	336	402	581	704
Swiss Travel Pass 2 Class	210	251	363	440
Swiss Travel Pass Flex 1 Class	382	458	651	774
Swiss Travel Pass Flex 2 Class	239	286	407	484
Swiss Travel Pass Flex Combi 1 Class	442	518	711	834
Swiss Travel Pass Flex Combi 2 Class	299	346	467	544
Swiss Transfer Ticket 1 Class	226
Swiss Transfer Ticket 2 Class	141
Swiss Transfer Ticket Combi 1 Class	286
Swiss Transfer Ticket Combi 2 Class	201
Motorway Vignette	40
Swiss Half Fare Card             (1 month validity )	120
Tell card-central Switzerland - only 2 Class	100 (2 days)	130 (3 days)	150 (4 days)	160 (5 days) 200 (10 days)

When in doubt? Almost all the train stations (except the small, unmanned ones, I presume) have an Information centre. Maps of the area, brochures for things to do in the area, places to see etc can be picked up here and also you could ask for help and guidance here. Follow the boards with symbol ‘i’ to reach an information centre.

Webcam check: A good weather is essential to get a good view from any mountain. Before heading to any mountain, check the webcam on this site the night before and first thing in the morning - http://en.swisswebcams.ch/

Winter clothing on the mountains: We wore a base layer(thermal) of ‘The North Face’(A polyester material, to take away moisture and keep dry), a mid layer of acrylic (for warmth) and an outer  jacket consisting of 3 layers of Shell, lining and filling all made of Polyester(water and wind proof). The gloves we used were of polyester with an acrylic lining inside. We covered our head and ears with an acrylic cap and used the hood of the jacket over that. For the mountain top activities we used a poly socks which had a percentage of rubber in it, which kept our feet quite dry. We wore Quechua Forclaz 500 shoes with heel support and had no problems with either walking on snow or keeping feet dry while sledging.


Environmental concerns: The ecosystem of the country is particularly vulnerable to climate change and the country takes environmental safeguards very seriously. It ranked No. 1 on the Environmental Performance Index of 2014. Please do your bit to help the country safeguard the environment. The running tap water in the rest room is potable, being sourced from the many lakes around the country. There is absolutely no need to buy bottled mineral water. Recycling is done methodically, segregate waste responsibly. 

Word of advice for the 'differently coloured': As a tourist one would generally come in contact only with people in the 'hospitality' sector but none the less be prepared to face, at the very least, a couple of not-so-friendly waiters/waitresses and fellow tourists. My advice, don't let them spoil your holiday.  
The below links and Oprah Winfrey's experience notwithstanding, this is purely from our experience in the country. In fact, the links below(the first of which does not even apply to tourists, really) are not here to vilify the country but as a substantiation that a couple of instances of 'unpleasantness' we experienced are not a figment of my imagination.  

http://www.humanrights.ch/en/switzerland/internal-affairs/racism/studies/racism-a-reality-switzerland-4552
http://www.vice.com/read/guide-to-european-racist-leagues