Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Well, only a Superman like President Trump can tell whether it was the Parliament building in Kabul built by India, or a library, that he was referring to while mocking India’s aid to war-ravaged Afghanistan.
But that reminds me of KaBuLi, a library that I started in 1980 for the children of Kamet, a 16-story tower in Anushaktinagar, the residential complex of the Department of Atomic Energy in Mumbai. Giving me an advance of ₹50, the Residents’ Association of Kamet asked me to set up this library, with two conditions. First, on payment of a monthly fee of 50 paisa, any child from the building would be entitled to become its member. Second, the library should be open on all Sundays between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., when children could borrow one book each, after returning a book loaned to them previously, if any.
I accepted, giving it the name KaBuLi, an acronym coined by borrowing the first two letters of the three words: Kamet Building Library. It was also a reminder of the famous story, Kabuliwalah, written for children by Rabindranath Tagore. Twenty children in the age-group 6-15 years became members, soon after I announced it on the notice board of the building.
I had agreed to run the library because I had my own collection of about 60 children’s books already, including several by Enid Blyton, and magazines such as Chandamama and cartoon volumes such as Tintin, Asterix and on the Indian epics published by Geeta Press, Gorakhpur, bought in the past for my son and daughter who were then seven and four respectively. But to ensure that each member-child got a fresh book every week, we needed many more books and magazines. Hence I started a monthly subscription of three or four children’s magazines in English and Hindi with my newspaper vendor, though that wiped out the advance of Rs. 50 in less than six months.
But I could still run KaBuLi for three years by replenishing fresh stocks of books or magazines procured from pavement-sellers of old, second-hand books and magazines at Kings’ Circle or at Flora Fountain areas in Mumbai, where I could buy them cheap.
Sunday mornings brought a festive atmosphere to my flat when young children gathered during the library hours, to the delight of my own kids. I would exhibit all the books/magazines, including the new additions, on the dining table in sets of categories, ready for issuing. I had given a library card to each member child, to keep a record of borrowing. Recently, one of them, now 46 and a non-resident Indian settled in the United States, reminisced about KaBuLi, when he met me! That was fair recompense.
ya_kmi@yahoo.com
