A teaman opened a library in the middle of the forest, and the people living in the vicinity began to pipe up and read there every day. Today, having a library in a town or village is no longer a novelty. Urban people do not feel the importance of libraries. But for the Muthuvan tribals of Edamalakkudy village in the heart of the forest in Idukki district of Kerala, having a library near them was like a dream. In 2010, two things happened in this area. The first is that Adamalakkudi became the first village in Kerala to have a tribal gram panchayat. Secondly, a small library was opened in a small tea house in the Irippukallu area of this village. It is probably the only library in the world that is so deep in the forest that you have to walk there. But now this situation has changed a little and, because of this, it is now possible to go to Adamalakkudi by jeep.
The story of the beginning of this library, which started with 160 books, revolves around the contribution and dedication of two men. One of them is the owner of this tea shop, Mr. P. V. ChinnathambiAnd another is Chinnathambi and the local teacher, Shri. P. K. Muralidharan. Muralidharan is no less than an angel to the Muthuvan tribal people. Two decades ago, he built his house in Adamalakkudi only to teach the tribal people here. Speaking to 'The Better India', he mentioned this and said that it was for this reason that we decided to open a library here. The tribals here call him Murali Mash (Malayalam for Teacher as Fish). He says, “One of my friends, Unni Prasanth, works for Akashvani and Radio FM here in Thiruvananthapuram. In 2009-10, he came to Adamalakudy once to meet us. He was staying in Chinnathambi's hut and I discussed with him the state of education in the village and the habit of reading. Meanwhile, the idea of opening a library came to both of us."
The Village from Kerala
Murali Mash adds that a few months after this discussion, Unni, the sub-editor of the magazine 'Kerala Kaumudi'R. SumeshHe returned to the village with his friend, carrying 160 books which he himself had collected. R. Sumesh says, “We collected these books and then started walking towards Adamalkkudi, crossing several villages. We had earlier thought of opening a library at Iruppukallu, but we could not find a building or any other place for it. At that time, Chinnathambi took the initiative and proposed opening a library in his tea-cup.” Chinnathambi's thought behind this was very simple. Murali Mash tells says about it, “People used to come to their tapri for tea and breakfast and then read a book there or take books with them for some time by paying a little money. So soon, this library of ours became popular. Later, more and more people came here to read books rather than drink tea.” The name of this library is 'LetterIt has been kept. Here a register is kept to record the books given to people to read. Library subscription can be availed either by paying Rs 25 at one time or by paying Rs 2 per month. The special thing here is that, instead of ordinary magazines or popular books, translations of great political works like Silappathikaram as well as books of famous writers in Malayalam, Vaikom Muhammad Basheer, MT Vasudevan Nair, Kamala Das, M Mukundan, Lalithambika Antharajanam are preferred here.
When senior journalist, Mr. P. Sainath, a group of journalists led by him visited Adamalakkudy for the first time, the outside world came to know about the library existing in this unknown place. He says, “For him, 'Katil Oru Library' or 'Library situated in a forest' was something he had never heard of, and he wanted to help Chinnathambi to expand this library. A journalist among them, K. A. Shajim, made a post on Facebook in this regard in which a resolution was made to collect 1000 books. Apart from that, the editor of 'Mangalam' magazine, I Babudon,ated a cupboard to keep these books safe.” Before that, Chinnathambi used to put all the books in a jute sack which was used to keep rice or coconuts. Of course, all books could not be kept in one cupboard, so they were kept in different boxes.
Travelling to Village
Chinnathambi says that ten years have passed since the opening of the library, but the Gram Panchayat has not yet fulfilled the promise of providing financial assistance and building the library. No one else helped them with that. "We were told that the local Gram Panchayat has been given fifty thousand rupees by the administration for this," he says in a sad voice. When the library was opened, the Gram Panchayat had not yet fulfilled the promise they gave us to continue the library. In the beginning, I found it easy to keep the books in my tapir. But now the number of books has also increased and seeing as I am getting older, there is no telling how long I will be able to do this job.” Chinnathambi was currently in Adimali village due to his wife's illness and could spare very little time to talk with us. Murali Mash said that Chinnathambi's condition is not good now.
He says, “When it became difficult for Chinnathambi to maintain the large number of books, we took all the books to our school and opened a new library there. We have also retained the name 'Akshar'." He adds that the local tribal people have contributed a lot to opening the library, keeping it and keeping it running for so many years. It will not be forgotten. that G. Rajuwho is the president of the parent teacher association (PTA) of the school. At the end he says,“ Raju is one of the respected old people of Edamalakkudi village who luckily got his education in high school. That is why they understand the importance of a library. Along with PTA, they have also helped us a lot."
The Pioneer of Library
People living in cities like us don't think much about the importance of a library, but for people living in a remote forest village like Edamlakkudi, it is not just a library but a bridge to the other world. Full credit goes to charitable people like Chinnathambi and Murali Mash.
