A quick thanks to the several libraries that I benefitted from during my growing up years in Cochin (Kochi).
1. The Corporation Library, Near erstwhile Galaxy theatre, Panayppilly : This was my 1st memory of a library - I must have been 4 years old when my father took me there. Very cool place set back in spacious grounds. Few books - but very select quality,and very friendly librarian - unusual for a municipal corporation employee. This library had lots of "foreign" children's books such as that of Popeye the sailor. What smooth pages, how nice they smelt, and what good font and pictures! I started loving spinach after I took a fancy to Popeye.
2. Mohan's lending Library - operated out a hole in the wall (almost) on Press Club Road, Ernakulam. I must have been around 9 years when I first visited it. Saturday's was the day to visit my grand-mother in Ernakulam. I used to look forward to it because I could get a fresh collection of books - both from the fantastic book collection of my grand-fathers' (the "Sudarshan" book collection) and also from Mohan's lending library. What hours of delight I had finishing off the entire Enid Blyton collection at Mohan's! Each Enid Blyton book was 157 pages and I used to ration myself to reading only 25 pages per day - a very difficult task. I failed to control my temptation for some of the books (especially the Adventurous Five series) - and used to finish off the book within a day, and then spend the rest of the week ruing my inability to control my temptation.
3. Book Worms - at Chirattapalam. I joined this library when I was about 10 or 11 years old. This was run by a book lover and the father of my class mate, Edgar Pinto. I got introduced to Tintin and Asterix comics in this library - and I moved up (with some encouragement from my dad) into reading "serious" adventure novels (WE Johns : "Biggles goes to war") and Wild West writers (Louis L'Amour, Oliver Strange "Sudden", JT Edson), and authors such as Alistair MacLean, and Arthur Haley.
4. Reader's Delight : Alas, I soon exhausted the limited but select collection at Book Worms. But not to worry - Reader's Delight opened on Princess Street in Fort Cochin. This was a good 3 km away from my residence - but luckily I had learnt to cycle by this time. I got introduced to fiction writers such as Wilbur Smith, Desmond Bagley, Robert Ludlum, Fredrick Forsyth, Ross McDonald and Clive Cussler. This was also the library where I took "seriously" to PG Wodehouse, and polished off most of the PGW collection. I also took a fancy to the slightly raunchy UK magazine called "Tit-Bits" as this was a favourite of my dad's. It was an interesting trivia magazine, and my father did not mind I reading the magazine provided I did not stare too hard at the scantily clad ladies on the cover page. Once while I was searching for old issues of Tit-Bits, I came across a "Play-Boy" magazine that the library owner had hidden away behind the shelf.
5. The Community Libraries : When I joined Cochin College for my 11th standard (Pre-Degree), I got hooked into quizzing by a teacher I greatly admired - Ajith Sir. My nature of reading changed as I started moving away from fiction into "serious" fact related books and magazines. There were 2 community libraries that I patronized heavily - the GSSO library near the Northern gate of the TD Temple in Cherlai, and the Samskruthi Bhavan library opposite the Cherlai TD temple tank. Both were oriented to helping youth succeed in their studies and career. I borrowed extensively from their "serious" book collection and also borrowed magazines such as Competition Success Review, Competition Master etc
6. The Cochin College Library : This had a good library - but had poor accessibility as students were not allowed anywhere near the books. I could not indulge in the pleasure of browsing the book collection and the satisfaction of discovering new authors. One had to select books from a catalogue, and then put in a request to the librarian who will tell you if that book is available. I could not do full justice to this library - and always wondered why they kept the students away from books.
7. The YNP Trust Library at Koovapadam, Mattancherry. I started frequenting this library when I joined for my BA Economics. Partly because of my interest in quizzing and partly because I thought I was not learning enough from my graduation course, I felt the urge to somehow compensate for my learning inadequacies by accumulating knowledge. I started dipping into books on Indian culture, history, economics, and biographies.This library had a fantastic collection of encyclopedias which came in 32 volumes- and I used to spend hours in the reading section of the library. The librarian got to know me so well that whenever he saw me approaching he would hand over to me the next volume in the encyclopedia collection.
Apart from the above "formal" libraries, I have to mention some informal libraries that I immensely benefitted from:
8. The "Lilaksh" and "Sudarshan" home collection. The "Lilaksh" collection was my father's book collection - mostly fiction authors like Alistair MacLean, Ian Fleming (James Bond), Nick Carter, Sexton Blake, Edward S Aarons, Berkley Grey, Erle Stanley Gardner (Perry Mason fascinated me so much at one stage that I almost signed up for my Law degree before better sense prevailed). The "Sudarshan" collection was a massive, erudite and eclectic collection of my Grand Father's. The library contained also note-books in which my grand-father had laboriously written down notes and remarks in his meticulous and beautiful hand-writing - what a fantastic treasure! My interest in reading literature came from my exposure to this collection. Unfortunately most of these books had to be donated or given away for lack of space after the huge ancestral home was sold off.
I have to also thank my school class mate Brian Hallegua : once over a summer vacation he lent me his huge collection of over 60 James Hadley Chase novels. Brian also introduced me to Alfred Hitchcock's writings (the Three Investigators series), Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys.
1. The Corporation Library, Near erstwhile Galaxy theatre, Panayppilly : This was my 1st memory of a library - I must have been 4 years old when my father took me there. Very cool place set back in spacious grounds. Few books - but very select quality,and very friendly librarian - unusual for a municipal corporation employee. This library had lots of "foreign" children's books such as that of Popeye the sailor. What smooth pages, how nice they smelt, and what good font and pictures! I started loving spinach after I took a fancy to Popeye.
2. Mohan's lending Library - operated out a hole in the wall (almost) on Press Club Road, Ernakulam. I must have been around 9 years when I first visited it. Saturday's was the day to visit my grand-mother in Ernakulam. I used to look forward to it because I could get a fresh collection of books - both from the fantastic book collection of my grand-fathers' (the "Sudarshan" book collection) and also from Mohan's lending library. What hours of delight I had finishing off the entire Enid Blyton collection at Mohan's! Each Enid Blyton book was 157 pages and I used to ration myself to reading only 25 pages per day - a very difficult task. I failed to control my temptation for some of the books (especially the Adventurous Five series) - and used to finish off the book within a day, and then spend the rest of the week ruing my inability to control my temptation.
3. Book Worms - at Chirattapalam. I joined this library when I was about 10 or 11 years old. This was run by a book lover and the father of my class mate, Edgar Pinto. I got introduced to Tintin and Asterix comics in this library - and I moved up (with some encouragement from my dad) into reading "serious" adventure novels (WE Johns : "Biggles goes to war") and Wild West writers (Louis L'Amour, Oliver Strange "Sudden", JT Edson), and authors such as Alistair MacLean, and Arthur Haley.
4. Reader's Delight : Alas, I soon exhausted the limited but select collection at Book Worms. But not to worry - Reader's Delight opened on Princess Street in Fort Cochin. This was a good 3 km away from my residence - but luckily I had learnt to cycle by this time. I got introduced to fiction writers such as Wilbur Smith, Desmond Bagley, Robert Ludlum, Fredrick Forsyth, Ross McDonald and Clive Cussler. This was also the library where I took "seriously" to PG Wodehouse, and polished off most of the PGW collection. I also took a fancy to the slightly raunchy UK magazine called "Tit-Bits" as this was a favourite of my dad's. It was an interesting trivia magazine, and my father did not mind I reading the magazine provided I did not stare too hard at the scantily clad ladies on the cover page. Once while I was searching for old issues of Tit-Bits, I came across a "Play-Boy" magazine that the library owner had hidden away behind the shelf.
5. The Community Libraries : When I joined Cochin College for my 11th standard (Pre-Degree), I got hooked into quizzing by a teacher I greatly admired - Ajith Sir. My nature of reading changed as I started moving away from fiction into "serious" fact related books and magazines. There were 2 community libraries that I patronized heavily - the GSSO library near the Northern gate of the TD Temple in Cherlai, and the Samskruthi Bhavan library opposite the Cherlai TD temple tank. Both were oriented to helping youth succeed in their studies and career. I borrowed extensively from their "serious" book collection and also borrowed magazines such as Competition Success Review, Competition Master etc
6. The Cochin College Library : This had a good library - but had poor accessibility as students were not allowed anywhere near the books. I could not indulge in the pleasure of browsing the book collection and the satisfaction of discovering new authors. One had to select books from a catalogue, and then put in a request to the librarian who will tell you if that book is available. I could not do full justice to this library - and always wondered why they kept the students away from books.
7. The YNP Trust Library at Koovapadam, Mattancherry. I started frequenting this library when I joined for my BA Economics. Partly because of my interest in quizzing and partly because I thought I was not learning enough from my graduation course, I felt the urge to somehow compensate for my learning inadequacies by accumulating knowledge. I started dipping into books on Indian culture, history, economics, and biographies.This library had a fantastic collection of encyclopedias which came in 32 volumes- and I used to spend hours in the reading section of the library. The librarian got to know me so well that whenever he saw me approaching he would hand over to me the next volume in the encyclopedia collection.
Apart from the above "formal" libraries, I have to mention some informal libraries that I immensely benefitted from:
8. The "Lilaksh" and "Sudarshan" home collection. The "Lilaksh" collection was my father's book collection - mostly fiction authors like Alistair MacLean, Ian Fleming (James Bond), Nick Carter, Sexton Blake, Edward S Aarons, Berkley Grey, Erle Stanley Gardner (Perry Mason fascinated me so much at one stage that I almost signed up for my Law degree before better sense prevailed). The "Sudarshan" collection was a massive, erudite and eclectic collection of my Grand Father's. The library contained also note-books in which my grand-father had laboriously written down notes and remarks in his meticulous and beautiful hand-writing - what a fantastic treasure! My interest in reading literature came from my exposure to this collection. Unfortunately most of these books had to be donated or given away for lack of space after the huge ancestral home was sold off.
I have to also thank my school class mate Brian Hallegua : once over a summer vacation he lent me his huge collection of over 60 James Hadley Chase novels. Brian also introduced me to Alfred Hitchcock's writings (the Three Investigators series), Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys.
