Raman Sreshta

When Raman Shresta was four, his family opened Rachna Books in Gangtok. The bookshop was forced to close down in 1988. Raman re-started Rachna Books in 2001. Known for its eclectic collection, Rachna Books has since emerged as a vibrant cultural landmark in the Himalaya. He has organised a wide range of events with the bookshop as a platform for arts, literature, culture, films, theatre, musical concerts and workshops. Rachna Books won the Publishing Next Industry Award for the Bookstore of the Year Category in the year 2015-16. He has spoken on challenges of fore-fronting books and curating independent bookshops at lit-fests. To make his bookshop’s ends meet, Raman also runs CafĂ© Fiction – a melting pot for ideas, and the top rated Bookman’s BnB – where writers and readers find a quiet home in the Himalayas. Videos of some events curated and hosted by Rachna Books are now available on their youtube channel.