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Collecting collectors' items
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Check out with Amrita Talwar this `open air library' in South Delhi where rare books are a norm
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He can't read English but knows the importance of titles
BETWEEN THE LINES Vikash Kalra with his books in Alaknanda
Artists, photographers and book lovers searching for rare and out of print books have now one more corner in the city where luck might favour them. A small `open air library' outside Yamuna Apartments in South Delhi's Alaknanda area, run by Vikash Kalra, a book collector and a painter, could give them a good literary diet.
In a small corner under the shade of a Gulmohar tree, books are placed in red plastic containers according to their title, importance and condition. Vikash lends books for Rs.190 a month. In his bid to save rare editions, he has dug out priceless books from recycle bins and paper shredders, secured some from kabariwallahas and picked up some others from the dingy corners in Daryaganj. He calls his `establishment' a book rescue NGO. "Many people get disappointed due to the unavailability of the books they badly need. I want to contribute something to make them happy," he says.
Dali to Picasso's collection
He's got First edition classics of Bernard Shaw, Shakespeare, Dr Zhivago, Arabian Nights, Devotional Anthology (1969), Saki, The Mummies of Guanajuato (1978), The White Lion of Timbavati and The World of the Dark Crystal. For the art enthusiasts, he has got the rare edition of Salvador Dali, Picasso's collection, Kangra Valley paintings, Shekhawati sketches and Sotheby's original arts: Auction House 1985.He has the full series of National Geographic magazine from the 1960s. Out of print books like The Forts of India, World Guide to Nude Beaches and Recreation and The Royal Palaces of India are some of his priced books, which he lends to select people only. He has bought the whole Playboy series from 1963 to 2002. Today, if he sells them, he would make a million. "The collection is available for the members but I don't wish to sell them. When my sons grow up, it would be my gift to them," he jokes.
There is a separate section for children too, which includes Amar Chitra Katha, Champak, Noddy series, out of print pictorials on solar science and other educational books which are now nearly non-existent. "Buddha attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree. I am providingknowledge under the Gulmohar tree," he says.
How did he become a book collector? "My brother and I used to deal in car spare parts and we made a lot of money. But it was shut down due to personal reasons. My whole family became penniless. One had to work. I started by selling newspapers and one day came across `The Art Collection of Picasso'. That book is out of print and artist Sudip Roy purchased it for a hefty price. That is the moment I realised the power of books and started investing in them," says Vikash.Though he can't read English, he knows the importance of titles. "There are two kinds of readers - one who read and the other who see and read. I belong to the latter category. I read by titles." For historians, he has out of print war stories from South Africa, India and America. He has the "hard to find" biographies of Lenin, Stalin and Hitler too.
Vikash has been able to procure dictionaries in different languages— Russian, German and French. For the religious, he has the rare collection of Prabhu Prasad's Shrimad Bhagvad Gita, which is out of print and Bill Moyers' Healing And The Mind. "It's been five years since I opened this library and I have not been able to give any money home. All of it goes in investing in books," he says.
With such a healthy collection of books, he is planning to launch a website and give Amazon.com some competition. And when Vikash is not selling books he is painting.
"It happened last Diwali. I came home and felt very uneasy. I wanted to cry but for some reason couldn't. I took out my sketchbook and started sketching. In three hours' time, I had painted faces, scenery and monuments on 20 sketchbooks."
His small apartment in Kalkaji is filled with books and canvasses. Books provide him the necessary high. "I used to be an avid drinker but have stopped after I stared painting and collecting books."
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