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Just a brief glance at septuagenarian KKS Murthy is enough to confirm that he fits the bill as owner of Select Book Shop, a store well known in Bangalore for old and rare books. He has grey hair combed flat, glasses that seem a tad too large, and an endearing slouch to his body that makes you want to sit next to him and see that no harm comes to him.

I spotted him at the annual Bangalore Book Festival currently on at Palace Grounds. He was, yes, slouched in a chair, gazing absently at visitors streaming past, quite oblivious to the handful of people groping for books that were stacked in untidy piles all over his stall. I told him that I knew his father, KBK Rao and that he had offered me a job in his book shop more than three decades ago, soon after I passed out of college.

“Ah yes,” said Murthy. “I was based in New York at the time. I was the one who sourced and shipped all the books to him in Bangalore. Did you know him well?”

I said my father, who worked in Deccan Herald, knew his father well, that was how I got introduced to him.

“But why didn’t you take up the job?”

I said I was barely twenty at that time and I was more interested in experiencing life in the real world rather than in books. “Ah…but a year or two in the bookshop would have given you the opportunity to read at least a hundred books. That would have equipped you better to face the real world,” he said. It was of course a casual riposte but it struck home for me; I made a lot of mistakes in the real world.

Later, as we sipped coffee, I asked him whether books were on the way out given the way youngsters are taking to the electronic media.

 “Sad but true,” he said. “The internet, mostly, is the culprit. What people don’t realize is that the internet offers at most the skeleton of information on any subject. The printed book offers the entire package, muscle and blood.”

Also, most young men and women have acquired the taste for technology oriented subjects and self improvement. “It’s good but in the long run, it’s a sustained interest in humanitarian aspects that will serve mankind. Materialism is a passing phase. How long can anyone truly enjoy the material aspects of life? If one doesn’t grow out of the materialistic phase, one hasn’t matured in life, whatever his achievements.”

 We were joined at that moment by Dr Lakshmanan, a former professor of Mathematics at Bangalore University. He is now associated with UNESCO in several teaching development programmes in Bangalore. “I agree,” he said. “I see so many youngsters these days running in different directions in pursuit of happiness. They need guidance. Books can do that.”

Murthy added that even Indian seers and gurus who are steeped in matters spiritual are being milked for their reputation by self serving politicians. “Our gurus must not fall prey to such manipulators. They ought to stick to their venerable role of being society’s conscience. This is especially relevant when the West is looking to the East for solace and spiritual enrichment.”

So did he agree with the American author, TC Boyle, who said in a recent interview that humans as a species are doomed? “Absolutely not,” said Murthy. “I am an optimist. Things will improve. Just that it will take time. India and other countries of the east will play a significant role in that recovery.”

As I came away, I was reminded of another conversation I had with the owner of Strand Book Stall, Vidya Virkar. She said that in European countries parents make it a point to inculcate the reading habit in children from a very young age. There are reading schemes in schools and active participation is encouraged. “The fact is that reading is a difficult habit to develop when you are already an adult. So many times I come across a businessman or a corporate bigwig hesitant to suggest books to his children simply because he does not read books himself. Can you read Jane Austen if you haven’t read Who Moved My Cheese?”

She also blamed publishers for unrealistic expectations. “India is definitely a large market but the reader here is very discerning. Nobody is interested in the memoir of a single mother in Detroit or what happened to a politician in London. I would urge publishers to print smaller quantities. Keep profit margins low and make the books affordable. High priced books will scare off readers. Focus on categories that sell well and expand your range gradually. India is a fledgling market now but the situation will definitely improve in the next five years or so. Also, it would be a good idea if publishers interact with parents, teachers and booksellers to find new ways to attract young readers.”