India, Nov. 7 -- A visit to a friend's home in August 2020 planted the idea for 'Pustakwale' in the minds of 39-year-old Rutica Walambe, a commercial artist, and 41-year-old Ashay Walambe, a B.tech and MBA. Pandemic restrictions were beginning to ease, and the couple had brought a book for their friend's five-year-old son. The conversation that followed revealed a problem: there was no bookstore nearby, and travelling to buy books was difficult.

For the Pune-based husband-wife team, this raised a question: If families could not easily reach a bookstore, could the bookstore come to them?

With this thought in mind, they organised their first bookstall at their friend's housing society in Baner. Children could browse alongside parents, gra...