Away from the City Bustle: Mizoram Gets its First Book Cafe in Aizawl

Aizawl: Situated at an elevation of 1, 132 metres above sea level, Aizawl, the capital city of Mizoram is the ideal hill station with picture perfect views of an ever blue sky and rolling mountains.

Of all the things that make it an ideal tourist destination, one more has been added to the list, the city’s first ever book café.

Made up of goals that every wanderlust soul dreams of, the café is located in the bustling heart of the city, easy to find, but away from all the noise, perched in a nook of Hrangbana building at Chanmari.

Vanlalruata Ralte, one of the owners tells News18 that the Book Café has been a long-standing dream of 12 years.

“The idea of starting a book café has been on my mind from 2007 but I was held back due to financial challenges and other drawbacks including finding an ideal location,” he says.

The venture is a partnership between three brothers, Vanlalhruaia, Vanlalruata and Lalhmunsiama. Wanting to give it a personal touch, the brothers constructed the place from scratch with their sweat and toil.

The shiny wooden tables and chairs, the steps leading to the cozy book stand as well as the paintings and the columns were all hand-finished by the owners.

The brothers say their main aim is to revive the reading culture in Mizoram.

“Due to technological developments, the youth today have lost touch with the value of the reading culture and we want to bring it back,” said Vanlalhruaia.

“When we came up with the idea, we discussed it with our friends and got a very good response. A lot of people came forward saying they have always wished to see such a café in Mizoram, and this really encouraged us,” he said.

The brothers also hope it will provide the Mizo youth a form of entertainment that helps one relax without the need of intoxicants, considering that substance abuse is one of the major challenges in the Mizo society.

The youth of Mizoram have few options for entertainment as there are no movie theatres, amusement parks or malls except for one Millenium Centre situated in the heart of the city.

“While it would be hard to categorize the book café experience as ‘entertainment,’ we hope it provides a space for the youth to just relax, enjoy the view and read some books with their friends,” says Vanlalruata.