More Than a Café: Inside Avneesh Gadgil’s Book Bar Dream Now Brewing In Mumbai

You almost miss it! The Book Bar in the nook of a by-lane on 16th Road of Bandra. But once you are there, there’s not a chance you will miss it again.

Brainchild of Avneesh Gadgil and Rushad Wadia of Pune, Book Bar is a Coffee Bar that uses books as part of its architecture and décor. The idea is to promote reading and book buying as a culture.

A music aficionado, Avneesh has spent more than a decade creating brand strategies for others. He has composed music and his ringtone declares that he is a Michael Jackson fan. He also launched an athleisure brand along with Rushad a few years ago, before taking a plunge into another business — Book Bar.

“It was a trip to Paris that triggered this,” admits Avneesh Gadgil, a London School Of Economics postgrad. “In Paris, I found so many cafes and places where culture ruled the place — literature, art, music… and I realised that I missed having a place like that in Pune.”

So, what came first — book or coffee? “Coffee!” comes a prompt and honest reply. “I wanted to create a culture that revolved around coffee,” Avneesh elucidates. “While coffee had to be the centre of it, I didn’t want a run-of-the-mill coffee shop.”

Big brands, according to Avneesh, were overpriced and the new generation was not really attracted to them. Small cafes in Pune were doing better than big brands and serving better and organically sourced coffees. “Some of my friends had already opened small cafes and sourced their coffees directly from estates. And I loved those coffees. I could also see that younger crowds preferred hanging around these places and hanging around for a longer time.”

Another brilliant observation by Avneesh was that there were more and more singles coming into cafes and bars and spending time with themselves than hanging out with friends or families. “And that was a thought!” says Avneesh. “I wanted to create a space where people could relax, work, read, create… A place where a person can spend hours alone without feeling pressurised.”

An avid reader himself, a café with books, music and art was the calling for Avneesh. “I had seen cafes with books, but none did

justice to books; at least in Pune,” Avneesh shares. “Books shouldn’t be just as placements. They should be a part of the architecture and décor. They should be accessible — to read and buy!”

In an attempt to make books accessible and promote reading as a habit, Avneesh started a café with bookshelves that expanded floor to ceiling. The walls also had some artworks, cars and cartoon figures. While Pune stores/bars are quite spacious, the Mumbai one in the nook of Bandra is small. “Yes, the Mumbai store is small. It’s like our Book Bar Mini in Pune. But we have tried to maximise the place here,” Avneesh informs.

However, that has not prevented Avneesh from having bookshelves on each wall and outside the café bar. Most of the books are pre-owned. There is a donation basket outside where you can drop your books. “I started by donating my books and requesting/ordering family and friends to do the same,” tells Avneesh. “We also have a few

publishers and authors sharing new books with us.”

One can buy books as well. “The pre-loved books are at 50 per cent of MRP and new books at MRP,” informs Avneesh. “And the earnings from book sale go to publishers or NGOs.”

One can’t help noticing that the books are randomly placed. There’s no theme to it. Except that more than a dozen Mills & Boon that are kept together. “Strange that you noticed, and good that you brought it up,” says Avneesh with a smile. “It’s a conscious decision. We have intentionally placed the books that way,” tells Avneesh. “We don’t want people to look for books. We want them to discover the books. Something that you never expected to or wanted to read, and you might just end up reading. We want books to discover people, instead of the other way round,” Avneesh elucidates.

That makes so much sense. Picking up a book that you probably wouldn’t have knowingly or deliberately. Beginning to read a genre you have not read before, start reading that only because that book reached out to you and you started browsing.

And, while we have this conversation, Avneesh recommends some coffee and sandwiches, which are delicious. But that’s another story!