Havelock: Zonal Library
Andaman a beautiful flock of islands – with gorgeous views, luscious fauna and flora, blue skies and a bluer sea. It seems not of India and out of this world. Port Blair is the capital city and rest of the islands are small townships with focus on tourists, beaches and sea.
Amidst the shades of nature I discovered a quintessential library run by the State Government in Havelock to encourage reading habits amongst the citizens especially children. There were English, Hindi, Malyali and Bengali literature. As Andaman comes under West Bengal area, the Bengali literature was found in abundance along with the Library in-charge Mr. Nitya Mondal. He was very courteous and allowed me to spend as much time as I want and click as many pictures I want. One thing I have to admit, that I really admire Bengalis for their love of art and literature.
The library opened only a few years back. To become a member you need an approval from the administrator of the island. I only wish I had discovered it on the day of arrival rather than on the day of departure. The English books were mainly recent editions, but a lot of Bengali and Hindi books were old editions some dating back to 1970s – like Feluda’s Mystery novel in Bengali, Unicef’s children education book - Guess What I am Doing, Sarat Chandra and Poetry. There was an extensive collection of children’s books –fairy tales, educational, folk tales, etc. It reminded me of my school library with an extensive collection of Enid Blyton, Secret seven, Fairy tales and Nancy Drew and also my old time school enemy Mental Maths.
Like all cute things it came in a small packed library...
Amidst the shades of nature I discovered a quintessential library run by the State Government in Havelock to encourage reading habits amongst the citizens especially children. There were English, Hindi, Malyali and Bengali literature. As Andaman comes under West Bengal area, the Bengali literature was found in abundance along with the Library in-charge Mr. Nitya Mondal. He was very courteous and allowed me to spend as much time as I want and click as many pictures I want. One thing I have to admit, that I really admire Bengalis for their love of art and literature.
The library opened only a few years back. To become a member you need an approval from the administrator of the island. I only wish I had discovered it on the day of arrival rather than on the day of departure. The English books were mainly recent editions, but a lot of Bengali and Hindi books were old editions some dating back to 1970s – like Feluda’s Mystery novel in Bengali, Unicef’s children education book - Guess What I am Doing, Sarat Chandra and Poetry. There was an extensive collection of children’s books –fairy tales, educational, folk tales, etc. It reminded me of my school library with an extensive collection of Enid Blyton, Secret seven, Fairy tales and Nancy Drew and also my old time school enemy Mental Maths.
Like all cute things it came in a small packed library...
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