Crossword Bookstore, Goa

A walk through the country’s leading book retailer Crossword, which recently opened its doors to Goans in a plush space at Campal IF your idea of the perfect afternoon is exploring a myriad of bookshelves and leafing through an impressive collection of books ranging from old classics by Jane Austen and Roald Dahl to contemporary favorites by J K Rowling carefully arranged and neatly kept in organized racks, you now have a place to do that right in the heart of Panjim. A quiet environ full of soft notes of instrumental music floating through the air, fellow book lovers engrossed in their own explorations, and most importantly, a dizzying range of literary offerings, the new Crossword store at Campal is truly a literature connoisseur’s mecca. “We had been looking to enter the Goa market for a long time. Once we got the perfect Location we decided to open shop. The store location opposite Kala Academy is just perfect for Crossword with a good property and plenty of parking opposite the store. Besides, Goa is a book lovers’ state. Judging by the initial response, it seems Goans read everything from Chetan  Bhagat to Murakami,” smiles Aakash Gupta, Director at Crossword. While the store has all the modern ambience and facilities of a chain store, the owners have also retained the charm of an independent bookstore in their design, with a friendly staff. Mothers and children being their target customers, in the Campal store, Crossword has a large section of children’s books on the first level, which boasts of a range of exclusive reading material, specially imported from England and US, for toddlers as well as young adults. With the advent of e-readers and Kindle, we wonder if books are becoming obsolete and Gupta says, “Not at all, in fact we are seeing more and more people take to reading physical books. There is something about the touch, feel and smell of a physical book, which romanticizes the whole experience of reading. This cannot be replaced by E-Reader devices. There is a large section of readers who still prefer to read a real paperback book than an E-book. Text: Mrunmayi Ainapure