How this little bookshop in Kochi is showcasing independent publishers and works of artists

The first books to catch my eye in the newly-opened Mehrab Book Shop are Blaft Publications’ Tamil Pulp Fiction series. Having seen these at a few book fairs but seldom in a store, their presence on the bookshelf hints at what one can expect from the month-old bookstore. The store boasts a certain quaintness, the green wrought iron gates and the staircase that leads to the space adds to the charm.

The smell of fresh paint welcomes one into the store, which opened in June, on Kaloor-Kathrikadavu road, adjacent to the Seaking Restaurant. A shady tree hides the store front of the first floor store, you can even see the green canopy from the store. Unlike the other, crammed bookstores in the city, Mehrab is spacious and the books are arranged in shelves on either side of naturally well-lit rectangular space.

It is not crammed with books, yet. And it feels like this is Bilal Javeed, the founder’s dream space where a lot of thought has gone into creating it — concept to realisation. Care has gone not only towards building it but also populating it with books that resonate with him. The collection of books, he says, has been curated especially for Kerala. Therefore they have independent publishers from not just India but also abroad.

Bilal Javeed, flanked by Eswari on his right and Misbah, the bookshop assistant, on his left
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SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Therefore, while you may not find mainstream publishers for this IS a space of independent publishers and works of artists, you will find books by Blaft Publications, Tara Books, Little Latitude, Seagull Books, Reliable Copy, Navyana Books, Writers’s Workshop Granta Books besides other national and international publishers. 

Intentional curation

The titles have been so put together that they are an eclectic mix of genres, for adults and children too. Most are guaranteed to provoke thought, and can even serve as ‘starter books’ in creating awareness about the world we live in. For instance Navayana Books is an anti-caste publishing house like Blaft, you can pick books that educate on politics and society too. 

Rather than limit the curation to a type, the book store offers an exploration across genres. The curation was the work of two months for Bilal and the bookshop manager, Eswari Krishnadas, as they identified and studied various publishers and their titles even while being on the lookout for new publishers and titles.  

Bilal says Mehrab is the fruition of a dream (every bibliophile’s fantasy) — of having a bookshop. “The bookshop was something I wanted to do along with a cafe but I realised I could not pull off a cafe in that space. I, however, wanted to have the bookshop either way. I wanted to build not just a book store but a community space as well,”  he explains.

He brings with him the experience of working with an independent publishing house, which publishes artists’ books. Mehrab sounds poetic, “it is an old family house and I really like the name, which is why I chose it. The original meaning comes from the word Mihrab, which meant an important room in a house. However over time it was used by Islamic architecture to depict the niche on a wall of a religious building, which indicates the direction of prayer,” Bilal explains. 

In the past couple of months of its existence, Mehrab Book Shop is slowly carving a space for itself in the city’s cultural sphere with its artists’ workshops, film screenings and other showcases as well. 

The store is open from Wednesday to Sunday from 11am-7pm.