We first opened our doors as a tiny bookstore in 1963. Natraj was founded by Sohan Lall Arora. There was the famous Odeon Cinema next door that screened Hollywood films and people would stop by to browse before and after the shows. When Sohan Lall’s son Upendra joined the business, Natraj expanded its space – there was a photographer’s studio next door that closed down and Natraj extended the store to stock more academic titles by independent publishers. The store also built an emphasis on environment books, on books on military and defence issues and also on books by women writers. Often we have customers who are visiting from another city, who walk in, and say, “I’m in a rush, but just had to drop in, because I cant go back home without doing so.” Or heart-warmingly, we hear “Its so great that the bookstore feels like it used to when I was in school here in Dehra Dun!”, or “Ah, the smell of books in this bookstore – its like nothing else in the world.”