A home for books

Godhuli,the senior citizens’ home run by the Servants of the People Society,has become a landmark in Dwarka. Neat and clean with modern amenities,facilities such as gym and parking,and pleasing environs,it is home to around 60 people,who,like 80-year-old Dr Jha,have chosen to stay here post-retirement.

The library is located on the first floor of the building,next to a sitting area with comfortable chairs and sofas and overlooking a garden.

“While most of the titles are in English,we have around 300 books in Hindi and 150 in Bengali — mostly literary works,” says Jha,who speaks all the three languages. He is self-taught in library science,and in literature his personal favourites are Shakespeare and Arthur Conan Doyle.

Using the universal decimal code,he has catalogued the entire collection under various heads,including something as unusual as ‘Death,Funeral & Obituary’.

“It is neither unusual nor morbid,” he counters. “It is a biological inevitability and also at a higher plane,the final question,” philosophises Jha,who retired as chief medical officer,CGHS,and practised in his native village in Jharkhand for a while before joining Godhuli. “I was the fifth resident to join this place,” he says while showing us a 1954 second edition Kemsley Manual of Journalism.

The voluntary work of a resident-librarian is,however,not without regrets. The well-stocked place gets few visitors. “One of the residents,a PhD in Sanskrit,was a regular reader here,but now with failing health and poor eyesight she is unable to come to the library. A 93-year-old lady borrows books quite regularly. Apart from them,you can say that I am the sole reader and keeper of this place,” he says with a wry smile.

Says Alka Mathur,Godhuli’s manager,“Health and interest are the two key factors; it’s up to the residents to use the library.” She adds that a large number of books have been donated by individuals. “We are careful not to accept too many old books as they are difficult to maintain,” she says.

Perhaps opening the library to the general public or even local senior citizens,for a nominal fee,would have ensured that people use it. “But the library is meant for residents of this old age home,so that they can read in privacy and peace. Opening the library for others would also mean security and other related issues for Godhuli,” adds Mathur.

Jha,meanwhile,is happy spending time in this little library when he is not surfing the Net for the latest medical news.

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