MeraPahad Community Of Uttarakhand Lovers

अमेरिका में रसायन शास्त्र के प्रोफ़ेसर जय प्रकाश के व्यक्तिगत प्रयासों से उनके गांव (बोरगांव, पौड़ी गढवाल) के छोटे से स्कूल में उच्चस्तर का एक पुस्तकालय बन गया है.. इस प्रकार का अनुकरणीय उदाहरण खड़ा करने पर हमारी और से जय प्रकाश जी को हार्दिक बधाई  ...

श्रोत- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS-India-Shakespeare-comes-to-the-hills/articleshow/4796638.cms

It is 7am and the bell of Borgaon's high school can be heard across the valleys, deep in the hills of Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand. But this day is The library at Borgaon's school. (TOI Photo)
 
different — and the boys and girls can barely conceal their restlessness. Today, the long-awaited library is going to be inaugurated. It's a big day, for the kids who have never seen a library before.

A first for a government high school in the state, the library has not been built through government funds. It is the result of a common dream of Sitaram Dhyani, a retired school teacher, and his nephew Jai Prakash, an old-student of the school and currently professor of chemical engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago.

Borgaon village is over a hundred kilometres from the nearest railhead at Kotdwar. The pucca road ends about 6 km short of it. The village homes are scattered over a steep 1,500-foot slope. Like many other villages in the hills, its population has been depleted by migration to the plains for employment. There are just seven kids in its primary school. But the villagers are proud to have a high school, which serves several surrounding villages. And now they have a library.

The inauguration ceremony is short and sweet. Kirti Devi, 78-year-old mother of Jai Prakash, cuts a ribbon as the local panditji offers prayers to Saraswati, the goddess of learning. Traditional musicians from the village play drums in the background. Villagers mill around the reading room and the stacks of books. There is a brand new globe and several registers on the table.

And the there are the books. The collection is breathtaking in its sweep. Shakespeare, Camus, Sholokhov and Dickens (in Hindi) mingle with Premchand, Renu and Parsai. There are over 2,000 books, all bound in red with titles handwritten on the spine. There are ‘useful' books too - general knowledge yearbooks and guides to various examinations. Usha Binjola, Jai Prakash's sister has done the selection along with her husband Madan. They stay in Delhi. When Jai Prakash offered to give a donation that would help the village, it was Usha who ran around and collected the books. Teachers from the school sent her a basic list, to which she added her own.

"I wanted the children to be exposed to all the great writers. I know how that can transform one's life — it happened to me," says Usha.

The actual construction of the library took over three years. "It was very difficult. There was no road, so transportation of bricks and sand had to be done on donkeys. Costs just kept going up," says Sitaram Dhyani, who handled the construction part. He has donated a piece of his land for the library.

The school is let off early for the occasion. After a hastily put up cultural program and speeches by some of the seniors, the children rush into the library. They have been issued cards. Villagers can also become members. Mandeep, a small boy but already in 9th class, says that he wants to read storybooks. "We don't have books at home. My grandfather used to read books but now...," he says. Sunita has already got her first book issued — Barack Obama's Audacity of Hope in Hindi. "I have seen him on TV, so I wanted to read his book," she shyly says. She has to hurry along, as her home is two kilometres away.

The adjacent high school is a 7-room affair of which 5 rooms are in a state of disrepair. Although recently constructed, the RCC roof is cracked and wooden beams support it. The children sit around them unfazed. There is no water, so every student has to get two bottles of water from home. Part of this is collected and used to cook the mid-day meal for junior students. There is no science laboratory, although science is a subject for the board exams. Two dusty weighing balances lie on top of a steel almirah.

Aren't there government funds for libraries? Ajit Sharma, the principal gives a wry smile and says that last year a princely sum of Rs 1,102 was granted for books. "We had to purchase the books recommended from Dehradun. They are there, but nobody reads them," he says. He plans to add a half-hour library period to the schedule.

"Come back next year, you will see the difference this new library will make," he says.