ABOUT 500 WORDS
A friend of mine turns 92 this month. Let me rephrase that: a friend of Bengaluru’s, Kannambille Krishnamurthy Srinivasa Murthy, turns 92. K.K.S. Murthy is an institution, a soft-spoken, smiling legend who found a new group of young admirers at his Select Bookshop off Brigade Road. This was during the weekend devoted to bookshops in and around Church Street – the richest in the country with its line-up of bookstores and book-loving owners.
Sitting on a mat spread out in the upstairs room of the 77-year old bookstore, young Bengalureans, some of them recent arrivals to the city, took in the personal stories of writers such as Ram Guha and Vasudhendra, each with a connection to Select, founded by Murthy’s father K.B.K. Rao. It was a scene that came alive in other bookstores too, much-loved by old Bengaluru hands and now welcoming new generations.
