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  Life   More Features  14 Jun 2017  When book reading comes alive, literally!

When book reading comes alive, literally!

THE ASIAN AGE. | GARIMA ARORA
Published : Jun 14, 2017, 12:25 am IST
Updated : Jun 14, 2017, 12:25 am IST

For the ones constantly fascinated by old items and those that see beauty in what others call junk, The Artefact Hunter might be an interesting read.

Human Library Hyderabad chapter. (Photo: Facebook)
 Human Library Hyderabad chapter. (Photo: Facebook)

How often have you experienced the author or the narrator of a book literally speaking to you? A cup of coffee, your book and you. Only a bookworm can truly understand the times when you wait for the day to end so that you can return to your book and resume exploring its mystifying world. Now, imagine this entire experience of being deeply involved in a book coming alive in the form of a Human Library! Yes, Delhi is soon going to experience its very first Human Library, a set up where people from different walks of life are going to spend 20 minutes with readers, where they will open up about their experiences of facing prejudices, stereotypes, their achievements and much more.

It was in 2000, when Copenhagen-based Ronni Abergel developed the concept of the Human Library. Working for the NGO Stop the Violence, Ronni along with his colleagues started Human Library in order to put focus on non-violence.

Neha Singh, book depot manager, Human Library Delhi chapter, quotes Ronni and says, “The basic idea behind a human library is to tell people that we are more similar than we are different.” She adds, “I reached out to Ronni through humanlibrary.org.”     

Neha says, “After talking to friends and spreading the word about the idea, we got a lot of volunteers who willingly got involved in the creation of human libraries.”According to Neha, the first Human Library was practiced in the Indian Institute of Management, Indore. “After successful sessions in Hyderabad and Mumbai, we decided of organising it in Delhi, Surat and Chennai as well,” she adds.

A total of 11 books (humans) have been selected for the Delhi chapter of the event. These include a mountaineer, an artefact collector, someone who struggled with gender roles, a cancer survivor, a Buddhism follower and many more. “These are all people who define a certain kind of prejudice or a stereotypes that they have experienced in their lives. These are the people who want to talk about their experiences and the blockages and who simply want to share their stories,” says Neha.

One of the books titled Himalayan Conservationist is a travel photojournalist who  feels that there’s a dire need of awareness for conserving the Himalayas. “Having stayed in the upper Himalayas and pretty close to nature for extended periods of time, I thought that people should be aware of their responsibilities in conserving the landscape of the mountains. Human Library seemed like a good platform for talking to people about the issue,” he says.

But what makes him open up like a book in front of complete strangers? Is there some sort of gratification that he is looking forward to?

“I think we are all the same. We are just different branches of a tree. But more than anything else, I feel that if you are not living a life where you are like an open book and everyone can read you openly, you are probably doing something wrong,” adds the Himalayan Conservationist.

For the ones constantly fascinated by old items and those that see beauty in what others call junk, The Artefact Hunter might be an interesting read.

“I have a collection of everything that is disappearing…vintage cars, typewriters, cameras, telephones, etc. At home, I have created a historic visualisation of my collection. My house is practically like a museum. All of these items have stories behind them, of their evolution and their complete disappearence. So I’m more than happy to share it with people and making them understand the historical importance of these products,” says The Artefact Hunter.

Read more of such stories at Human Library Delhi Chapter, at Innov8 Co-working Space, Connaught Place, from 2 pm to 7 pm.

Tags: human library