Calamity has often paved the path for enterprise – and the story of Rajat Bookstore stands testimony to this. Established in 1947 by Mr Govardhan Batra as a humble eatery cum bookstore opposite Glency Medical College, Amritsar to cater to the unfulfilled demand of medical books and academic journals is now home to over 2,00,000 books spanning genres and age groups with branches in Jaipur.

Having faced challenges mounted by the partition, rising militancy, the digital economy and a global pandemic over the years, Rajat Bookstore has cemented its reputations as an undisputed cultural phenomenon. In 1979 declared the Year Of The Child by UNESCO – Rajat Batra, the founder’s son, became the country’s first mainstream retailer to exhibit books at schools and pre-schools

Eager to spread this endeavour beyond Amritsar, he planned events in the neighbouring small towns of Dalhousie, Pathankot and Jalandhar. Today they have curated more than 100 author interactions and have handled logistics for renowned authors all over the country. Having grown up in the company of books and inheriting the unique business acumen of his father, Mohit Batra has successfully carried forward the legacy of Rajat Bookstore into the 21st Century.

Reading voraciously led to Mohit Batra’s debut as a writer for Jaipur’s Daily News And Analysis broadsheet; by 2010, he had written 95 book reviews in his column “Booked For Life”. Soon the shelves of Rajat Bookstore started making room for new and upcoming. When the pandemic closed its three branches, Rajat Bookstore swiftly shifted its operations online – delivering the joy of reading across the country. Today their website’s database has grown to include over 10,000 customers.