Wearing a white kurta-pyjama and slightly torn black shoes, 70-year-old Ompal Singh walks up to the main counter of the Delhi Public Library (DPL) in Chandni Chowk and is greeted brightly by the staffers.
Mr. Singh, a resident of outer Delhi’s Kadipur, travels over 20 km to reach the library a few times a month. He walks 1 km from his house till the bus stand and changes four buses to reach the library he has been visiting since 1973.
Renewed membership
After acknowledging the smiles and handshakes, Mr. Singh makes a beeline for the main hall to catch up on news from other staffers.
“This place changed my life,” he says with a wide smile on his face.
Mr. Singh became a member of the DPL in 1973 and visited the library for five years. However, he did not renew his membership in 1978, when floods hit the city. Mr. Singh says he lost many important documents in the natural calamity, including the library membership card. A series of unavoidable events and the death of his wife kept Mr. Singh away for many years.
Mr. Singh was diagnosed with sciatica a few years ago because of which he couldn’t walk beyond a few metres at a time. “I was a farmer but couldn’t work because of the disease. My younger brother Ram Meher Singh told me to rejoin the library around five years ago. Here I am now, absolutely fit,” he says.
Looking at 55-year-old Karan Singh, a multi-tasking staff member at the library, Mr. Singh says the only reason he was able to walk again was because the caring library staff told him to read health books and learn about sciatica.
‘I can even run today’
“I read Hindi books such as Pran Padati , Sukhon Ka Sagar , and Pairon Ki Baat Sunein . I learnt acupuncture and acupressure. After practising it for years, today I can even run,” he says.
Overwhelmed by Mr. Ompal Singh’s words, Mr. Karan Singh says his life is all about the readers: “I am not exaggerating but I think I care more about library members than my own family members.”
In an attempt to give back, Mr. Singh now runs a support group in his village for people suffering from nerve problems.
