With the number of furniture shops lining the insides of Rajouri Garden West, it’s hard to imagine why a South Delhi institution such as Bahrisons booksellers would set up shop here.

For a bookstore that is often referred to as Khan Market’s Barnes and Nobles, this ought to be nothing short of sacrilege.

“Why not?” Anuj Bahri, who runs the 56-year-old bookstore along with its literary agency Red Ink, asks. “It’s not like there are no book lovers in West Delhi. We branched out into this part of town primarily because we had quite a few requests from patrons who live here and would often stop by our Khan Market store, after battling traffic and pollution to get there,” he said.

So the bookstore decided to take itself into the heart of West Delhi and has unwittingly set off a mini-revolution of sorts. The bookstore is small, rather neat compared to its original outlet and clearly focuses on children’s literature as well as the classics.

“We’ve been careful to include a whole variety of children’s literature as well as books for teens, both girls and boys,” Bahri said. Once you enter the store, step downstairs.

If you’re a Batman or Superman fan or are keen on catching up with the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, this is where you’d like to be.

For young girls, there’s Meg Cabot, and the rather baffling American sensation, the High School Musical books.

Sharing space with the children’s section is an exhaustive collection of the classics, spread over 5 shelves, ranging from Erasmus to Lao Tsu. Upstairs is the more predictable lot, with best sellers from India and around the world.

The store also has over 22 Letters to Penthouse books placed discreetly under the popular fiction section.

The bookstore opened early in February and has witnessed a gradual increase in footfall.

“There are about 75-80 people who come in daily but the weekends have been a pleasant surprise with over 200 people dropping in with their children and buying books,” Bahri said.

Since the bookstore is fairly new, Bahri and his efficient staff are keen on building a collection of books by involving their customers.

“We’d like to invite people to tell us what books they’d like us to stock, so that we can cater to this part of town the way we do with our main store in Khan Market,” Bahri said.