Over the past 14 years, Umadevi Antharjanam has visited at least 220 houses in Budhannoor village in Kerala to distribute books and promote reading.
When was the last time you picked up a book, inhaled the heady scent between its pages, and got lost in its content? Struggling a bit? In today’s hyperactive world of social media, we have lost many habits that we had inculcated during our childhood, like playing outdoor games, taking part in dance or music classes, or losing ourselves in books and comics. The decline in book-reading habits, especially among the youth, is so evident that Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu recently expressed concern over it. But one woman in Kerala is trying to change that.
Seventy-three-year-old Umadevi Antharjanam has taken to the streets and walks four-five kilometres every day to promote reading in Kerala. One can find her carrying a bag stuffed with books, along with an umbrella. So far, the avid reader has visited at least 220 houses in the past 14 years in Budhannoor village near Chengannur in Kerala.
“I reach the library by three in the evening to collect the books. Mostly children and women take books from me to read. In case of students, they inform me in advance which book they want. I collect it from the library and deliver to them.”
She says the library, which is located in the village, is stuffed with books on all subjects — fiction, non-fiction, and detective novels along with mythological books mostly read by the elderly. The avid reader also makes sure that the library members actually read the book that she brings to them. She asks children to tell her what they learnt from the books when she goes back to collect them after a couple of weeks. With people having known Umadevi for over a decade, they now call her to let her know about which books they or their family members want to read. She began doing rounds of the village, distributing books, and instilling book-reading habits after she was invited to work in the library by its president, Viswambharan Panicker.
