Dileep’s customers are mostly policemen and government employees in Thiruvananthapuram.
Dileep’s customers are mostly policemen and government employees in Thiruvananthapuram.
There is buzz around a man visibly on a motorcycle at the State Armed Police (SAP) premises at Perurkkada in Thiruvananthapuram. The conversation is animated and after an hour or two, each policeman leaves with a stack of books in hand, while the story seller travels to his next destination.
Retired policeman Jayakumar SS says that he met Dilip S in 1998, when he was a police constable in SAP camp. “Dilip used to come on foot with his collection of latest books. For over 23 years, he has been selling books of all genres at our premises. As of now, he knows the preferences of each of his clients and we have come to rely on his recommendations.”
For Dileep, 42, the son of a rubber tapper from Kuttichal, 28 km from Thiruvananthapuram, selling books is a profession and an extension of his love for reading and books. “Vidyadharan Vasudevan, an uncle of mine, was an avid reader. He inspired me to read. Following in the footsteps of a friend of mine, I started selling books at the age of 19 to support my family. Although that stopped, I continued my sales,” he says.
Dileep S, a resident of Kuttichal, travels in and around Thiruvananthapuram to sell books. Photo Credit: Sreejith R Kumar
Initially, Dileep used to travel by bus from Kuttichal to meet the publishers of the city and buy their books. “I bought the books from the sales agency Premiere, which offered a 40% discount. I was able to earn a fair profit from the sale. In those days there were many publishers in the capital – Premiere, Universal, Akshara, Computec and Prashanti. Large publishers markets Many closed up shop as a change in their reading habits and coming in,” he says.
Presently, he buys books from some of the major publishers’ outlets in the city. His USP is that he brings books to the doorsteps of his customers.
Dileep’s biggest customers are policemen. Many of them pay for the books in installments. Dilip is like family now. Thanks to him, I became a good reader and collector of good books, which I consider my biggest savings,” says Jayakumar.
Dilip says that many policemen are fond of reading and writing and as a result, “I was able to expand my reading and knowledge of books. For example, once Shivprasad, a policeman from the camp, asked me V.S. Requested to get translation of Khandekar’s Jnanpith award winning Marathi novel, yayati, In this way, I am also reading some of those books.”
In the nineties and nineties, about 3,000 policemen were undergoing training in the city camps. Eventually, the Kerala Armed Police Camp was shifted to Adoor.
Word-of-mouth publicity helped Dileep gain customers. He recalls that till five or six years ago, they were allowed to enter government offices and schools, where they had many buyers among the employees. Over the years, Dileep was able to gain the confidence of the authors in his own recommendations. “Readers are a diverse lot. Some are liberal readers while some have specific choices, such as thrillers, novels, short stories, travelogues, biographies, classics… Although online sellers make a huge dent in my sales, then Too many customers are patronizing me,” he says.
His clients include nurses, employees of government departments, etc., but a large percentage of his clients remain policemen. “During the pandemic, the demand for books increased. Now, people have gone back to their busy lifestyles,” he added.
Four years ago, Dileep managed to buy five cents of land in his hometown and set up Nirmala Lending Library, a lending library named after his late mother. His collection of about 4,000 books is now kept there. He admits that there are not as many readers as he would have liked. But he is optimistic that once pandemic fears are put to rest, the library will attract more readers.
Their profits have come down due to inflation and rising petrol prices. “Also, publishers have cut the window for full payment. Earlier we had to make a nominal down payment and pay the rest within six months. Now that time has been reduced to 45 days. This has hurt me a lot as customers buy books on installments. It worked to our advantage,” he explains.
Moreover, he feels that security concerns in many offices have been a deterrent for salespeople like him as they are not allowed inside the offices.
The father of two didn’t let low profits or dwindling customers dampen his love for books and reading. “Margins are low now. But I have a loyal customer. Also, bookstores and major publishers in town trust me. I get a list of books that will be released and I pre-order them for new books or reprints. Books have been the bread and butter for me and will continue to be,” says Dileep.
(26th PN Panikar National Reading Day/Digital Month Celebrations 2022 being celebrated till 18th July, 2022)