By Mahjabin Rahman
Do we remember the time when we used to give people books as gifts and wrote notes on the back of the cover to express our feelings? I miss that. Please! We need to bring that back.
We are at the peak of the digital era, and I love every bit of the blessings it brings. Everything is just clicks away but even so, I still crave the time when life was lived offline. When gestures were slower. When emotions were handwritten inside the cover of a book, not typed out in DMs. You’d spend hours picking the perfect book, then agonize over what to write inside. Not just firing off a quick DM or dropping a heart emoji. And where did we go for this sacred ritual? Nilkhet.The wild, totally bonkers, absolutely charming Nilkhet book market.
Nilkhet, a place with the scent of ink and bundles of paper, the yellow pages of books, the dusty-chaotic mess where we can see Humayun Ahmed’s books next to medical prep guides all in one place. It’s a place where a student, a poet, a rickshaw-puller and a researcher could all browse books shoulder-to-shoulder.
Photo Source: localguidesconnect.com
I remember the first time I went there, it felt like I was in a maze. Piles and piles of books. No specific aesthetic really mattered there. Not curated. Not aesthetic. Just raw, beautiful abundance.
Lately, I can’t help but notice: bookstores are making a comeback. Not just any old shops, either—these are stunners. Soft lighting, nooks that basically beg you to curl up with a paperback, some indie coffee shop vibe on the playlist, and shelves that practically ooze “cool.” Sometimes I just wander past, and boom—instant serotonin boost. Walking inside? It’s like, Ohh, maybe the world isn’t completely falling apart after all. Feels like everyone’s falling in love with books again, whether you’re here to actually read, show off a collection, wrap up the perfect gift, or just zone out flipping through pages.
But, honestly? There’s this other feeling too.
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These aesthetically pleasing bookstores feel exclusive. Don’t get me wrong, I love a pretty bookshelf as much as the next person. But bookstores should be for everybody, not just people with deep pockets or fancy taste. And I’m not saying bookstores should not have these aesthetic vibes but we need more places where you don’t have to mortgage a kidney just to buy a paperback. Can we get some spots that everyone can actually afford?
“A bookstore is one of the only pieces of evidence
we have that people are still thinking.” – Jerry Seinfeld
And if that’s true, then we need more evidence. We need more bookstores where people are not afraid to go inside. For the new generation, we must not let them think that bookstores are just some fancy coffee places for instagramable photos. We need to let them know that we must cherish books and know how to gain knowledge from them. We should provide easy access to books so that people do not just be stuck in digital life and miss out the smell of fresh, newly printed books.
So yes, let’s celebrate the aesthetics, the playlists, the soft lights. But alongside that, let’s also build more Nilkhets – wild, messy,and affordable spaces where the love of books truly belongs to everyone.
