With Kumar the tradition of bohemian bookselling was lost

With Kumar the tradition of bohemian bookselling, much in the line of Herman Hesse, when he worked for a bookshop in Basle in 1899, was lost. Kumar combined his pursuit of a highly specialized passion of collecting with a broader interest in the society around him. His Calcutta home, which also housed his bookshop, was always a meeting point for remarkable people from all walks of life, ranging from iconoclastic artists to conservative writers.R.P.Gupta, in his obituary on Kumar, wrote that 'he used to be so engrossed in his books that once whilst I was in Kumar’s place,I asked somebody; the many ways Hoogly could be spelt . I was surprised at the response from Kumar , who reeled out the names - O’Malley, Potter and Laurie -all names of authors of books on the river Hoogly. His range of mind and vitality of character will be long remembered by all those who knew him'.

Images : Bookplate KUMARS designed by Bipul Guha . R.P.Gupta