From ‘Screen and Culture’ to ‘Current Book House’: Chattogram’s oldest surviving bookstore
Long before Amazon or air-conditioned malls, there was Current Book House—born of curiosity, built on passion, and kept alive by a family that chose culture over commerce
Amin used to notice people pulling up in luxurious cars just to collect newspapers and magazines from his elder brother. It fascinated him. Why were such wealthy, important people visiting his brother just to pick up periodicals? The idea struck him—what if he opened a store just for books, magazines, and newspapers?
His father wasn't convinced, but his elder brother was.
Hailing from a landowning family in Jhalokati with an established business and properties, Mohammad Amin left it all behind for the port city of Chattogram. His family's trade with Kolkata was once thriving—goods arrived from Kolkata on sampan boats and were distributed to Khulna and Chattogram. Even back then, it was a business worth lakhs.
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But Amin had other dreams.
Despite his father's disapproval, Amin remained fixated on books. In 1951, he left home with Tk18, stolen from his own house, and set off for Chattogram. He started a small book venture by a stream on the slope of a hill. He named his shop Screen and Culture.
This love for books came from his elder brother, who was an avid reader of newspapers and magazines. Whenever he traveled for business, he collected local publications from those areas. In Chattogram, where he frequently stayed, his home was filled with such collections.
Wealthy individuals would visit just to collect these publications. The young Amin watched all of this and was deeply influenced. The seed for a bookstore was planted in his mind.
Even after leaving home, it was his brother who quietly supported him from afar.
Though the business began in 1950, Screen and Culture became an official store in 1951, under the government Muslim High School near Court Hill in Chattogram.
Later, when the Chattogram Development Authority (CDA) was formed and urban development led to the eviction of small shops, Amin received a small room in the CDA building as compensation. He renamed the shop CDA Book House.
This setup lasted from 1962 to 1967. Then in 1967, Amin moved to the space under the iconic Jolsha Cinema Hall—a space nearly ten times larger. He envisioned a place where the door would always be open, and people passing by could browse books. Thus, Current Book House was born.
His son, Mohammad Shaheen, recalls, "Everything we achieved—fame, love, community—it all happened at Jolsha. We had to leave when the old building was torn down, but we were there for nearly 60 years."
Gradually, the bookstore became a household name across Chattogram.
In 1974, the shop adopted the now-famous slogan: "Let books be your daily companion"—a pioneering idea in the world of Bangladeshi bookstores.
Renowned journalist Siddiq Ahmed once wrote, "If a book carried this seal, one could be sure it came from Current Book House. This tradition of stamping books with such slogans was introduced in Bangladesh by them."
So, who visited the store?
"It would be better to ask who didn't," Shaheen replied with a smile.
During the 1970s and 1980s, literary giants like Humayun Ahmed, Shawkat Osman, Al Mahmud, Mohammad Rafiq, and Muntasir Mamun were frequent visitors. So were cultural luminaries like Mamunur Rashid, Dr Anisuzzaman, Ahmed Sharif, and even Humayun Azad.
Politicians, ministers, and local parliamentarians all stopped by. The bookstore became a hub of intellect and 'adda' (lively conversations). Even prominent academics like Abdul Mannan, Abu Yusuf, Mohammad Ali, and Dr Anupam Sen were regulars.
At one point, Current Book House became the biggest seller of Humayun Azad's books in all of Bangladesh.
In 1988, they opened another stall at Mimi Super Market. That same year, on 30 November, Mohammad Amin passed away.
At the time, aside from New Market, there were virtually no other bookstores between Andarkilla and Kathgarh in Agrabad. Current Book House was the first to open in Mimi Super Market. Inspired by their success, nearly a dozen more book shops opened there—but most closed down within a few years.
Shaheen reflected on this, "Everyone thought opening a bookstore meant instant profit. But we knew better—profit is modest and sometimes there's loss. We didn't do it for profit. We did it because we wanted to live with books."
Mohammad Amin wasn't a voracious reader himself, but he had the highest respect for readers. Begum Mushtari Shafi once asked him why he chose such a business despite other lucrative opportunities. His face lit up in response.
"A country may gain wealth through trade and industry, but national pride comes from building an educated society. That happens through nurturing language, literature, and cultural heritage. Book writing, publishing, and building a readership are all part of that," he said.
Because of this philosophy, Current Book House never sold school textbooks or guidebooks, even when their shop was beside Muslim High School. He focused instead on literature, philosophy, science, and quality foreign publications.
They were the sole distributor in Chattogram for magazines like Anandabazar, Desh, Robbar, Sananda, Time Magazine, The Dawn, and The Economist.
Poet and essayist Hafiz Rashid Khan once wrote, "Only at Current Book House could you find even the rarest titles. They'd guide readers with advance information on upcoming publications."
Once, Pakistani forces arrested Amin briefly after noticing his collection of Karachi-based journals—mistaking it for subversion.
Even Desh magazine from India once ran a nostalgic feature about this shop.
Author Sabitendranath Ray from West Bengal visited Dhaka and Chattogram during book fairs. He was disappointed by both fairs, except for one thing: Current Book House.
He wrote, "Walking into Current Book House in Chattogram was like stepping into a grand pavilion at the Kolkata Book Fair. But even there, do you find so many little magazines alongside books?"
Locals say, without this store, they might never have become political thinkers—or even learned to truly 'see'.
Even controversial figures like Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and his cousin Fazlul Karim, former MP of Chattogram, used to borrow comics from the shop during their school days at St Placid's. After reading, they'd return the books, crediting the shop for their fluency in English.
Chattogram's forgotten book culture
Like Dhaka's Nilkhet or Stadium Market, Chattogram once had its own 'boipara' (book neighbourhoods): New Market, Jolsha Cinema Hall and Andarkilla.
New Market's second floor was home to Boighor, launched by Syed Mohammad Shafi in 1961. It published poetry by Hasan Hafizur Rahman and Shahid Qadri and was a favourite haunt of Shamsur Rahman and Al Mahmud.
Downstairs, Newsfront specialised in English literature and newspapers. Ujala Book Centre focused on stories and novels. People's Book Agency under Hotel Green on Station Road was small but rich in literary treasures. Kathakoli was a hub for leftist intellectuals, regularly hosting literary festivals.
The Co-operative Book Society on Jubilee Road once had 50 stores under one roof. Now, it's mostly inactive.
Amar Boighor, established in 1970, has four branches today. Though mostly focused on textbooks now, they still offer rentals.
Others—Chalantika, Pathok Bondhu, Manisha, Derozio—have vanished.
Andarkilla once had 280 bookshops. Currently they stand at around 150. Kohinoor Library and Islamiya Library were once popular names, especially during the 1970s–90s.
"Everything we achieved—fame, love, community—it all happened at Jolsha. We had to leave when the old building was torn down, but we were there for nearly 60 years."
Today, most stores have shut down or turned to selling shoes and guidebooks.
Yet one store remains true to its roots: Current Book House.
According to Shaheen, once while lecturing at the University of Chattogram, Humayun Azad said, "You students are lucky—you have the Current Book House nearby. In Dhaka, a city of over 10 million, not a single shop like it exists."
Today, it sits on the second floor of VIP Tower in Kazir Dewri.
They once had branches in Dhaka's Dainik Bangla intersection (now the Hawkers' Union Office) and in Khulna's Picture Palace intersection. Both are now gone.
The Mimi Super Market shop also closed, unable to cope with the rent, but lasted nearly two decades.
From Court Road (17 years) to Jolsha (over 50 years), and since 2018, in its current location, the store has endured.
Today's outlet may seem modest—gone are the days of chatter and vibrant exchanges—but they've never compromised for money. A few stationery items have been added, but Mohammad Amin's two sons, Mohammad Mubin and Mohammad Shaheen, continue walking the path he started.
Since 1951, Current Book House has lived on for 74 years. And when we speak of Chattogram's oldest bookstores that are still standing, only one name truly fits: Mohammad Amin's Current Book House.
