They Were Standing

They were standing...

They were standing in Vake district, in Chavchavadze Avenue in front of the fifth building of the Tbilisi State University and on the other side of the street near the underground passage in front of the shops.

Many of them stood near the first building of the TSU too – on the both sides of the streets, and in two places of the underground passage too.

They were standing in front of the Delisi Metro Station; near the second exit where nobody ever walks.

Two people were selling books in Delisi settlement when you turn towards Vake district. They did not stand together. One of them stood near the bus-stop of the mini-bus # 4 and the second stood a bit farther, at the cross-road; one of them sold books at a low price while the second sold at a high price.

They also stood near the metro-station of the medical institute. The books were placed on the granite plates of the underground passage. They were Georgian and Russian.

The books were sold at the beginning of the Pekini Street.

One stall was at the beginning of the Dolidze Street too.

They were standing even near the Technical University close to the TV-station with a huge “Students’ Inn” on one side and the Stalin-style building of the university on the other side.

They were standing in the underground passage of the Tavisupleba Square; they hardly found room there; sometimes their number reached even ten.

The second-hand book-sellers were near the exit from the underground passage; more of them stood near the bank at the beginning of the Pushkin Street.

They stood near the Kolmeurneoba Square.

A woman was standing in the underground passage in front of the Kashueti Church; she was selling well-saved old books. A plotting facsimile was attached almost to every book. She sold books at a high price but you could bargain with her.

They stood near the Public School # 1.

They were opposite the “Tbilisi Marriot” Hotel.

They were on the both sides of the street near the Opera House; they stood even in the underground passage.  

They were everywhere in Zemeli district: inside and outside the underground passage. Sometimes completely strange sellers also appeared and then disappeared.

There was the biggest choice of books near the Publishing House “Samshoblo”. They were a lot there.

They were in several places in Vera district too.

The book-sellers were at the exit of the Marjanishvili metro station.

They were alongside the McDonalds in Marjanishvili Street.

Three big stands were in front of Akhmeteli metro station in Gldani district.

They were in front of the Dinamo Stadium…

At the railway station

At Okriba auto-station

Somebody might argue with me – “they were not standing, they were sitting” but I will say: No, they were standing, but when you approached them they used to get up. They always greeted you on feet. They were guarding something; they were keeping their families and took care of others’ education; but could not find time for their own education. Only several of them could find time to read; sometimes they sat down on their small chairs, extensible chairs of fishermen… some of them did not have chairs at all and they were sitting on the cold granite plates… on the pavement… on the books…

Some of them today try to start some other business. Some of them return to their places without books but nobody recognizes them without books; they have lost their faces. He was a person in front of the stands, which he had fixed with his son; but now he is nobody… he is invisible… Some of them might have started calling people for help; others started to visit them at home. Many of them are sitting at home and looking at the columns of books, bags full of books and bundles of books left near the front door. Some of them still keep their books where they used to. You might already know that book-sellers did not take books home; they rent “warehouse” nearby….

The city has got empty from books for more than one week. The supervision department of the Tbilisi City Hall cleaned the city from books. Nothing reminds of books in Tbilisi now. You cannot see Artura, Gia, Avto, Vagana, Alika, Roin and Aleksandre any longer. You cannot see the women whose photos were posted on the website of the city council as a street trader.

They simply met and conversed with street traders.  I recognized everybody on the photo; absolutely everybody; I recalled faces of several of them. They smile in several photos; and hope of better future. They do not want to move to the damp place which is forgotten by everybody. Nobody will recognize them there. They will change there; old acquaintances will not find them there. They will lose even the most faithful buyers on the way to their new place. They want to be in the city, close to people. They are the salt of the city; some of them sell books at a high price while others sell at a low price.

There are only book-shops left in the city where you can find expensive albums, expensive calendars, posters, pens, color-pens, markers and the most important – cakes, cakes, cakes!

They cannot attract people inside otherwise.

People used to approach street book-sellers for books and not for cold drinks and extra calories. Book-bugs used to cure their neurosis with the street book-sellers by books and not by sweets. Today, people with similar biblio-neurosis remained without treatment. Will 3-4 book-shops be enough for them? Furthermore, the books are expensive in the shops and the shop owners add almost 50% to the original price.

Now let’s discuss the ways of problem-resolution.

I do not think it will be easy to take book-sellers to the Statue of the Mother-Tongue. Nobody will agree with it. First of all we, the readers will not agree; the people, who might not know each other but remember each other’s faces because we have seen each other at Artura’s, Gia’s, Avto’s, Vagana’s and other’s… We do not agree with it. It will not work. If you want to gather street book-sellers why should not you send them to Tabidze Street which is very suitable for book-selling?! I mean the Galaktion Tabidze Street which runs alongside the building of the city council from the Tavisupleba Square. Give the new, repaired part of the street to the book-sellers and open a cake-shop there too. Then we will call the area “Book District” or whatever you want. Simply, do not swap books away from the city streets! Did they stand in the streets for so many years in vain?! Don’t they deserve to stand at the new stalls in the city with more pride?! They will meet old acquaintances, old customers or completely strange young fellows who are searching dusty books politely; they want to get used to them.

Do not press-boxes stand in the streets?

Do not boxes for Shaurma stand in the streets? They make stench in the city with the meat which was frozen several years ago.

Why cannot the books also have their places in this city, or at least one good place? 

Have not you seen book streets, book districts in Landon, Paris, Buenos-Aires, Rome… at least have not you heard of the districts where book-sellers have been standing for many years… they are British, Indians, Arabs, Argentineans, Italians, people of different values and principles who cannot even find time to read books because of a lot of customers. What did Georgian book-sellers do wrong who were standing in the streets for so long time?! We lived on their books.

They stood

They were standing on the both sides of the streets, alongside the streets, together and separately

Now it is our time. Now we will stand for them!