IT WILL not be long before you start buying books from your home itself. Online book purchase is slowly catching up in the city. No, we are not talking about Amazon.com and its ilk. We do have a desi version. Sites like www.dcbookstore.com and www.paicoindia.com are doing well, say those associated with the sites.

  To start from the very beginning, let us check up links with the past. Lalityabooks.com, probably the first online bookshop for Malayalam books went off cyberspace almost a year ago.

  "It started in August 2000 and was operational for just about one-and-a-half years. One reason for the site becoming defunct was the poor response from readers and then our technical personnel left us midway. During the operational years, we could sell just about Rs. 5,000 worth of books," says K.K.C. Nair, who was the brain behind the site.

  Even though this former editorial board member of the National Book Trust misjudged the cyber life of book lovers in the city, he definitely paved the way for those who followed. Mr. Nair's modus operandi was simple. He collected catalogues from bookshops in the city, made a selection from those and posted the list on the Web site. "Most of the enquiries were for novels. There were some for rare books, like the early works of authors like Uroob and Vilasini. We supplied whatever we could procure."

  As for dcbookstore.com, an exclusive webstore for Malayalam books, more than half of the orders come from overseas Malayalis.

  "Most of the enquiries are for classics," says Sanal Kumar K., manager, business development for Puzha.com that has been looking after the back-end logistics and site management.

  May be nostalgia plays a major role in this business. Even though these statistics do not necessarily mean a new breed of readers, it is heartening to find books being sold. A healthy trend indeed.

  The mode of delivery is either express parcel post or courier, which means the customer would be holding the book he ordered just a couple of days later. That too for nothing more than the cover price.

  From its part, Paico will bring your products ordered online without any additional delivery charge if you are anywhere within Edappally Bypass junction, Palarivattom Bypass junction, Vyttila, Kundanoor junction and Thevara.

  Anything delivered up to Kalamassery, Cheranaloor, Kakkanad, Thoppumpady and Thripunithura would be charged as additional 5 per cent and everything beyond would be charged Rs. 25 in addition the total amount, said Ribu J.Chembarathy, officer-in-charge, Paico Online.

  However for Paico, books are just one channel among many others. Like gifts, breadline products, grocery, provision and reserving tickets at cinemas in the city. In fact, the flood of requests for gifts and flowers for the last Valentine's Day has prompted those at Paico to consider offering their services beyond the city limits. Both these sites accept modes of payment like cash on delivery, VPP, cheques and DDs, the preferred one being credit cards. Meanwhile, Mr. Nair has not really placed his project in the freezer. He is waiting for the right atmosphere, when people start buying books more liberally. Going by the current trends, time may be ripe for him to make a return.

Courtesy : The Hindu