Delhiwale: Read between the lines

Quick-fire confessions of a busy bookseller

Does he himself read the heavy duty books he sells? Ajay Jain deals in scholarly books on Indian history and politics. His shop—Manohar Publishers & Distributors—is frequented by scholars from India and abroad. In his 50s, the Gurugram-born started working full-time with father, bookstore founder Ramesh Chandra Jain, at an early age of 19. He daily commutes to his shop in Delhi’s Ansari Road from his home in Gurugram’s Sector 24. This afternoon, despite being super busy at work, he agrees to be a part of the Proust Questionnaire series in which folks are nudged to make “Parisian parlour confessions”, all to explore citizens’ distinct experiences.

Ajay Jain daily commutes to his shop in Delhi’s Ansari Road from his home in Gurugram’s Sector 24.

Your chief characteristic

Straight forwardness. It gets me into trouble sometimes.

Your favourite prose authors

I usually don’t read books in their entirety, but browse through portions that interest me. Currently reading books on pyramids, the Kohinoor and Maharaja Ranjit Singh respectively.

Your favourite poets

I hate poetry, but I do like Ghalib for I’m very romantic at heart.

Your favourite heroes in fiction

Different ones at different stages of my life.

Your main fault

Impatience.

Your favourite occupation

Selling books, and travelling to rural places in Europe such as the serene Black Forest in Germany.

Your idea of misery?

Losing loved ones.

If not yourself, who would you be?

I would always like to be myself.

Where would you like to live?

Where I reside right now, at Garden Estate in Gurugram, or in the mountains, or in Holland, the country I visited on my first visit to Europe in 1991.

Your heroes in world history

King Ashoka, Bhagat Singh and others like him who contributed to India’s freedom.

Your favourite food and drink

Rajma chawal, thandai and paani.

Your favourite names

Tapas, Ananya. These also happen to be the names of my children.

Faults for which you have the most tolerance?

Nervousness, stupidity.

The military event you admire the most

Hitting the enemy where it hurts the most. Like the surgical strikes against Pakistan in 2016.

How do you wish to die?

Either while at work, or while sleeping.