Before the rains came and the swirling waters of the Chalakudy river began to rise menacingly, Moozhikulam Sala on the banks of the river had over 2,500 titles in its library, all of them collected by T.R. Premkumar. On August 14 night, the river breached its banks. In their rush to save their lives, Premkumar and others with him could do little to save the books. When Premkumar returned four days later, the river had gone back to its normal course, leaving behind thick mud in which he found most of his books, some buried, some half so. “They just came apart when I touched them,” he says.
Soaked in water for more than three days, the books just gave away as he tried to salvage them. This was his personal collection at home and at the little Eco-shop, which is a book and music shop, on the Moozhikkulam Sala organic campus. Among them were rare books on history, including his prized Travancore Archaeology Series. Books on sociology, cultural heritage and studies on river ecology are among some other possessions that he feels would be hard to get back. Besides, there was a good collection of fiction too. Six volumes of Sanskrit literature in Malayalam was another of his prized possession. Though this would be available at the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit as they are the publishers, many of the other books were collector’s items. Living among books is what Mr. Premkumar had always dreamt about and Moozhikkulam Sala is the dream that he had translated into reality. An organic campus that follows traditional lifestyle supported by certain benefits of the modern world, Moozhikulam Sala is located on a 2.5-acre land on the banks of the Chalakkudy.
