PUNE: Express Book Service– Pune’s iconic book shop on East Street, Camp, running for more than seven decades now, has won the Best Book Store 2025 award at the recently concluded 7th IRO Literary Festival held in Hyderabad.
The award was presented to Express Book Service’s proprietor Mr Rohit Jerajani on 1st February 2025 at the 7th India Reading Olympiad (IRO) Awards ceremony. This ceremony was part of the IRO Lit Fest 2025 which was held at Hyderabad on 18th January.
Organised by The Food 4 Thought Foundation, a non-profit organisation which promotes the reading habit, the award winners were selected by an independent jury of prominent persons from the corporate, academic, government and NGO sectors.
The IRO and the awards seek to celebrate the power of reading and encourage people to read books.
While receiving the award, Mr Rohit Jerajani said the book shop was one of many started by his grandfather late Mr Jamnadas Jerajani In 1972, his father, late Mr Manubhai Jerajani took charge of the Pune book shop which was visited by a number of dignitaries including Sardar Patel, Prime Jawaharlal Nehru, JRD Tata and others. “My father had such good relations with his customers that JRD Tata and his wife, and the Maharaja of Baroda were among the dignitaries who attended his wedding,” said Rohit.
Interestingly, the book shop has a ‘Murthy’s Corner’ to commemorate frequent visits by the legendary Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy and his wife, Mrs Sudha Murthy, when they were courting before marriage.
Mr Jerajani said that he enlarged the activities of the book shop by introducing ‘Books on Wheels’ and taking books to various companies in Pune; inviting authors to speak at events in Pune, organising LitFests in Pune and abroad and organising speed reading workshops for school children. “Today, I am doing more than 20 author sessions in Pune in a month,” Mr Jerajani said about the popularity of his initiatives.
He said booksellers across the country were facing serious threats from mobile phones in the hands of children and rampant book piracy offline and online.
Established in 2015, the Food 4 Thought Foundation is dedicated to promoting
reading habits and creating access to books for communities across India. Operating
657+ libraries across 21 states and 92 cities, with a collection of 180,000+ books and
serving 100,000+ beneficiaries, the foundation has left a lasting impact. From
establishing libraries in jails, hospitals and public parks to war zones and
under-served schools, their work was recognized, amongst others, by Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi in the 116th episode of Mann Ki Baat.
Recognized for its transparency and impact, Food 4 Thought Foundation has also received the “Most Trusted and Transparent NGO” Award from Asian Leadership Awards in 2022.
