Chetak library to Community library

I was never good at academics. I did not wish to run the rat race but rather play instead and have a fun time at school. I was inclined to reading though. 

The love for reading was fueled by the chetak library uncle who would visit our apartments in Hyderabad and many other apartments in our galli. He was a pot-bellied, middle aged, medium height man who would ride a chetak and fill the dikki with books -- tattered comics that he would loan for 25 anna per week. 

Few of our friends would borrow them and we would read it and exchange these books within that week. And then again wait for the chetak library uncle to come. This continued till we grew up and grew out of these books. The love for libraries and books were sowed though. 

During high school, i'd follow the library principle in bookstores too and would read one or two there and pick another and come home. I would calculate, i read 3 at the price of one. 

Growing up, i found a few libraries which were my home too especially British Library when it was opposite Secretariat. I remember, in 2009, when i quit my job, i went to the library for a month and read there with a friend and then we would hang out at Sarovar, the coffee shop adjacent to the British Library. When British Library was closed, i felt melancholic. The move to Jubilee Hills itself made me sad but closing it was sadder. 

Moving to the US in 2015, introduced me to a new concept: little free libraries. They are found in nooks and corners of the streets and one could take a book and keep a book. 

Returning to Hyderabad i wished to pursue it but to little encouragement. In 2021 when i met Bala and YK Sir of YK Antiques, the idea was brought up again. A book devotee, Abhishek, and my college friend, Bhanu, chimed in too. 

Adept at DIY projects, Bala made the below free library in 2022.

It's been 2 years now and YK Sir mentions, "the library is a space where the museum visitors come and spend hours reading these books. We may have not achieved our goal of making the library a community one but nevertheless, individuals come and read it." 

There's a silver lining to that but imagine if we would have a little free library in community spaces where a person could read for free, the difference it would make :)! 

YK Sir, Bala and Me doing our work by the free library

The free library made by Bala at YK antiques, Alwal