DIBRUGARH, Sept 1 - In an exemplary venture, villagers in far-flung Borbam village (Borbari) under Hatibondha Gaon Panchayat in Tengakhat Development Block have collectively set up a unique thatched house library called �Kuhi Paat�.
�Kuhi Paat� literally means tender leaf in Assamese and symbolically it implies new beginning. The library was thrown open for the public yesterday.
Kuhi Paat or the thatched house library is out of the ordinary due to the fact that lectures, interactive sessions and motivational talks will also be hosted in the said library.
As of now, the library provides various books of diverse interest like comics, story books, pictorial books, novels, newspapers, magazines and other subject-specific literature in Assamese, Hindi and English.
Gradually, the library will also cater to the farmers by providing them with books and literature on various farming activities like Krishak Bondhu. Any one visiting the library can have access to the books, Anjan Nag, who is instrumental in executing the project told The Assam Tribune.
Anjan Nag is a former medical representative and a documentary photographer. He also served the IT sector in different capacities. Borbam is Anjan�s ancestral village. He was shocked to discover that the village which he left some 30 years ago is still the same while the rest of the neighbouring villages have progressed both in the literacy and trade fronts.
While talking to this Correspondent, Anjan said that he had felt the need to be with his aging parents and hence came back from New Delhi to his hometown Dibrugarh.
�After coming here, I frequently visited Borbam, my ancestral village. I spend time there and interact with the people. I realised that my ancestral village had hardly made any progress in the past couple of decades. Our village has around 40 families. Most of them are wage earners and farmers. The literacy rate is very low. After I posted a few photographs on social media, a friend of mine suggested opening of a community library in the village. I liked the idea and began to plan accordingly with the elderly men, women and youth of our village. My desire was to create an environment where particularly children would love to spend more time with books. As the entire community endorsed the idea and with their collective support we came up with �Kuhi Paat�, said Anjan Nag with contentment writ large on his face.
Nag is seeking to bring about a total change in his village through various activities. �There are plans to beautify the village in order to promote rural tourism, which will generate livelihood for the villagers. I am also in talks with different educational institutions for some kind of exchange programme where they would come and teach the students of classes VIII to X. This will not only benefit my village, but also the children of the neighbouring villages. We still need lot of support on books and infrastructure. I have sent out messages inviting donation of old and new books,� informed Nag.
