Kathmandu:

It’s only a book lover who understands the contentment one feels when one has a good book in his hand and a hot cup of coffee to accompany it. It’s one of those little pleasures of life that rejuvenates you and renews your soul. And there is one more thing, which is of great

magnitude that needs to be taken into consideration to indulge in this favourite pastime of yours — that perfect spot to delve into the world your book bestows upon you.

Starting out

Lounging around in a couch, lying down on bed or amidst the greenery of your garden there are plenty of options, however there is a new option — Book Cafés, these seem to be the preferred hangout place for those who love books and food. Andrea Thain, owner of Saturday Café, Boudha says, “This was one of the first ventures of its kind in the Valley, and though it is a relatively new concept n Nepal it is a very common trend in the west.” “The patrons we have are a lot of readers and scholars, and as Lars is a friend of mine, we had a mutually beneficial arrangement that worked for both of us.” One of the floors at the Café belongs to Lars M Braaten, owner of United Books.

Whereas, Bimala Shrestha Pokhrel owner of Higher Ground Café at Kumaripati says, “I love books and coffee, and I had a vision since 1997 to have a book café and help disadvantaged women through it, and it was about two years back that I started looking after this place.” And then there is another one called Ezer Book Café in Sanepa chowk. “We had a lot of people in this area who were interested in reading, so the book café was started around two and half years back, away from the maddening crowd in this quite place,” says Ranjita Lama from the café.

A different setting

So, what is it that makes these places popular among book readers, as Thain puts it, “Here people take time leisurely and then decide whether to buy a book or not, they don’t have to rush or decide in 10 to 15 minutes.” “This is a place where people can have conversations with others with similar interests, give and receive suggestions and recommend books as well,” she adds. Putting her views on a similar line Pokhrel says, “This is a place where people can exchange ideas and have an enjoyable time.”

Talking about the kind of people who do visit these places Pokhrel says, “We mostly have foreigners like research students and those who are just travelling by and expats as well. But nowadays we have Nepalis especially youngsters or university students coming in too.” And Ezer Book Café too has its fair share of regular customers who are foreigners and expats but it is Koreans who form the majority, according to Lama. But Thain doesn’t have a certain type of people that come to her place, “We have lots of Nepalis coming in, young and old. We have people from almost every country coming here,” she says.

Books galore

Ezer Book Café has novels, historical books, magazines, newspapers, books about Nepal and a good collection of Korean books as well. And one can also avail themselves to the Internet services they provide. At Higher Ground it is novels, literary collections, devotional, historical books and magazines that you can browse through. And yes they do have free wireless services. Saturday Café has an entire floor, which mostly consists of books for sale. “We are also trying to support Nepali writers here as there are a lot of foreigners coming in, they have an opportunity to see the works of Nepali writers and it’s a way of exposing these writers to the English speaking world,” says Thain.

Even if you want to take your own books and just sit down and read it there, sipping a cup of coffee, you can do that as well.

Coffee and cuisines

It’s not just the books that attract people to these places. The fresh and yummy dishes are undeniably tasty too. If you want to try out some authentic Korean and Japanese dishes Ezer Book Café is the place you should head for and if you prefer spicy food to relish in while you read your books, they have Indian cuisines too. While the other two café’s are both non-smoking and non-alcoholic Higher Ground specialises in American, Mexican and Italian food. The wide variety of coffee that blends in perfectly

with the place, and their

bakery items that you can

indulge in while going through your book makes the whole experience even more fulfilling. In Saturday Café it’s vegetarian dishes that are furnished to you and of course the place is famous for its pies and cakes.

So, the next time you decide to get a book someone has recommended or check out the new ones or even better just laze around and read that book you have been wanting to with the best services provided, you know where to head for.