https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Bahrisons_BooksellersBahrisons Booksellers - Revision history2026-08-21T04:56:24ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bahrisons_Booksellers&diff=489126&oldid=prevMalissaHardaway: Made Some Details V12025-05-17T22:03:15Z<p>Made Some Details V1</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Bookstore in Delhi, India}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2025}}<br />
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'''Bahrisons Bookstore''' is a bookstore in [[Khan Market]], [[New Delhi]], India, established in 1953 by Balraj Bahri Malhotra.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Delhi's Iconic Bahrisons Is Expanding Its Footprint In The Business Of Books |url=https://www.forbesindia.com/article/take-one-big-story-of-the-day/delhis-iconic-bahrisons-is-expanding-its-footprint-in-the-business-of-books/88887/1 |access-date=2024-06-08 |website=Forbes India |language=en}}</ref><br />
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== History ==<br />
During the [[Partition of India]] in 1947. Balraj Bahri Malhotra, a 19-year-old refugee from [[Malakwal]] (now in Pakistan), along with his family, fled to Delhi. The family settled in the [[Kingsway Camp]] refugee area.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Malhotra |first=Aanchal |date=2015-04-11 |title=How Bahrisons Delhi has been romancing books since 1953 |url=http://scroll.in/article/719693/how-bahrisons-delhi-has-been-romancing-books-since-1953 |access-date=2024-06-08 |website=Scroll.in |language=en}}</ref><br />
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In Delhi, Balraj Bahri met his future wife, Bhag, who also came from a refugee background, having migrated from [[Dera Ismail Khan]] in the [[North-West Frontier Province]]. Life as a refugee was challenging, and in the early years, Balraj and his brother took on various jobs to support their family. They worked on trains, sold pens, and engaged in the printing and distribution of government publications<ref>{{Cite news |date=2016-02-27 |title=Balraj Bahri, founder of Delhi's iconic bookshop Bahrisons, passes away |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/balraj-bahri-founder-of-delhis-iconic-bookshop-bahrisons-passes-away/articleshow/51170235.cms |access-date=2024-06-08 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257}}</ref><br />
Initially working at a store in [[Chandni Chowk]] selling [[fountain pen]]s, Bahri decided to open a bookstore. In 1953, with the help of Prem Sagar, owner of Lakshmi Bookstore in [[Janpath]], with limited resources and by selling one of his mother's gold bangles for initial capital, Bahri opened Bahrisons Bookstore in [[Khan Market]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Basu |first=Soma |date=2023-11-17 |title=Bahrisons Booksellers in Delhi’s Khan Market is 70 |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/the-never-ending-story-of-bahrisons-booksellers/article67535512.ece |access-date=2024-06-08 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Delhi's Refugees: The Story of Bahrisons Bookshop |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-IRTB-13671 |access-date=2024-06-08 |work=WSJ |language=en-US}}</ref><br />
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Balraj Bahri's wife, Bhag, played a significant role in the bookstore's operations, managing the cash counter and later taking early retirement from her government job to support the family business full-time. In 1978, their son, Anuj, joined the business,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Malhotra |first=Rajni Bahri Malhotra & Anuj Bahri |date=2020-10-19 |title=What led Delhi’s Bahrisons to open a new bookshop in the capital during the pandemic? |url=https://scroll.in/article/976097/what-led-delhis-bahrisons-to-open-a-new-bookshop-in-the-capital-during-the-pandemic |access-date=2024-06-08 |website=Scroll.in |language=en}}</ref> and Bahrisons Bookshop is currently run by him and his wife Rajni.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Meet the Delhiwaala {{!}} The Bookstore Owner {{!}} LBB |url=https://lbb.in/delhi/bahrisons-book-store-khan-market/ |access-date=2024-06-08 |website=LBB, Delhi-NCR |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bakhsh |first=Zenaira |date=2023-12-28 |title=70 yrs of Bahrisons: How a maths student came to India after Partition & opened iconic Delhi bookstore |url=https://theprint.in/india/70-yrs-of-bahrisons-how-a-maths-student-came-to-india-after-partition-opened-iconic-delhi-bookstore/1903159/ |access-date=2024-06-08 |website=ThePrint |language=en-US}}</ref><br />
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In 2002, Bahri expanded the operations to include a publishing house, Tara-India Research Press, and in 2008, added a literary agency called Red Ink Literary and Film Agency.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-05-24 |title=A bookstore in Delhi has its own history |url=https://gulfnews.com/lifestyle/a-bookstore-in-delhi-has-its-own-history-1.2032303 |access-date=2024-06-08 |website=gulfnews.com |language=en}}</ref><br />
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At its 50th anniversary in 2003, a history of Bahrisons, titled ''Chronicle of a Bookshop,'' was published by Anuj Bahri. An updated and revised edition, written by Bahri in collaboration with his daughter, the oral historian [[Aanchal Malhotra]], was published to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the bookshop in 2023.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bahri |first=Balraj |title=Bahrisons, chronicle of a bookshop |last2=Bahri |first2=Balraj |last3=Smith |first3=Debbie |last4=Bahri |first4=Anuj |date=2004 |publisher=Swankit |isbn=978-81-87943-46-4 |location=New Delhi}}</ref><br />
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==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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[[Category:Bookstores of India]]<br />
[[Category:Companies based in New Delhi]]<br />
[[Category:Indian companies established in 1953]]</div>MalissaHardaway