This second-hand bookseller revived his business during the pandemic by selling ‘rare books’ online Shashikant Sawant’s remarkable story of bookselling success in Mumbai, pandemic or no pandemic. Shashikant Sawant. When I was 17 years old, I began the journey that would change my life: selling books. At Kirti College in Mumbai, where I was studying, there were many booksellers, and they were always mobbed by students buying textbooks to prepare for the IIT entrance examinations. Now, one particular book was heavily in demand, and very poorly available. The students who wanted it were desperate enough to pay a higher price for it. So I bought a copy for Rs 5 and sold it for Rs 11. This may seem laughable today, but let me put it this way – back in 1981, an unlimited plate of rice was available at Rs 2.