A photo of Dalit research scholar Rohit Vemula sits proudly on a shelf at the government library at Gandhi Colony in Semmedu, an area with considerable Dalit population.
Vemula’s spirit resonates inside the damp but comfortable hall housing 15,000 books, for the residents, including college students and even school dropouts, helped to bring the almost two-year dream of a few local youth to have a library in their colony, to fruition.
“I had spoken to Vemula shortly before his death. It’s just extremely sad that he is not there to see our efforts pay off,” said V Selvakumar, a PhD student and area resident.
“In the colony where around 200 Dalit families reside, most children come from impoverished homes where they can find very little space to study,” he said. “Even when I was growing up, we used to study under street lamps,” he said.
Selvakumar and his friends hit upon an idea of establishing a library in the colony. Though there was another library nearby, it was in a dilapidated condition and the local youth wanted to shift it to an abandoned government building in Gandhi Colony itself. “When we discussed this subject with the non-Dalit residents, they expressed their displeasure at having their wards travel to the Dalit colony for study,” said Selvakumar.
Soon afterwards, the youths approached the local panchayat president and asked him to give them permission to set up a library at an abandoned government building, which had become a hotbed for anti-social activities. “The building was in tatters, with the walls desecrated and liquor bottles everywhere,” said N Srinivasan, another resident of the colony.
The youth, who organised themselves under the banner ‘Padippagam’, then approached the Collector and sought her cooperation in setting up the library. After running from pillar to post for over 18 months, they were finally able to open the library to the public on February 2.
“I delayed my PhD for one year because I was running around trying to get the library sanctioned. I even broke down in front of the Collector when she told us that she could not sanction its functioning,” said Selvakumar.
The move towards establishing the library was a community effort, with people from all walks of life contributing not only small amounts of money, but also time and effort towards the project. A wall painter, Devaraj, used to chip in with his daily income and would do whatever was necessary to restore the building, while a non-Dalit businessman Srinivasan Kuppusamy gave the students `20,000 to build book racks and buy paint.
“We all struggled extremely hard for this,” said the residents.
Vemula’s spirit resonates inside the damp but comfortable hall housing 15,000 books, for the residents, including college students and even school dropouts, helped to bring the almost two-year dream of a few local youth to have a library in their colony, to fruition.
“I had spoken to Vemula shortly before his death. It’s just extremely sad that he is not there to see our efforts pay off,” said V Selvakumar, a PhD student and area resident.
“In the colony where around 200 Dalit families reside, most children come from impoverished homes where they can find very little space to study,” he said. “Even when I was growing up, we used to study under street lamps,” he said.
Selvakumar and his friends hit upon an idea of establishing a library in the colony. Though there was another library nearby, it was in a dilapidated condition and the local youth wanted to shift it to an abandoned government building in Gandhi Colony itself. “When we discussed this subject with the non-Dalit residents, they expressed their displeasure at having their wards travel to the Dalit colony for study,” said Selvakumar.
Soon afterwards, the youths approached the local panchayat president and asked him to give them permission to set up a library at an abandoned government building, which had become a hotbed for anti-social activities. “The building was in tatters, with the walls desecrated and liquor bottles everywhere,” said N Srinivasan, another resident of the colony.
The youth, who organised themselves under the banner ‘Padippagam’, then approached the Collector and sought her cooperation in setting up the library. After running from pillar to post for over 18 months, they were finally able to open the library to the public on February 2.
“I delayed my PhD for one year because I was running around trying to get the library sanctioned. I even broke down in front of the Collector when she told us that she could not sanction its functioning,” said Selvakumar.
The move towards establishing the library was a community effort, with people from all walks of life contributing not only small amounts of money, but also time and effort towards the project. A wall painter, Devaraj, used to chip in with his daily income and would do whatever was necessary to restore the building, while a non-Dalit businessman Srinivasan Kuppusamy gave the students `20,000 to build book racks and buy paint.
“We all struggled extremely hard for this,” said the residents.