“The Library Master” -
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('Thanks to ChatGPT for assisting in the English translation of my original Tamil creations.”)
(Illustration by Usha Bharathi – thanks)
“Thambi, come tomorrow morning by 8 sharp. New books are
arriving. We have to enter everything in the register, number them, and arrange
them in the shelves properly. Okay?”
As the librarian said this, he too eagerly waited for the
next day to dawn. Once every six months, colorful new books—with fresh smells
and crisp textures—would arrive at that district branch library.
To inhale their fragrance, to run fingers over their smooth
or sometimes rough pages, to sort them into categories—stories, essays, poetry,
English, Tamil—write them into the register, assign numbers, and neatly arrange
them on shelves… and then stand back and admire the order—this was a joy in
itself.
In between, the coffee, tea, biscuits, and bajji that the
librarian would call him in for had their own special taste.
And then, there was another kind of happiness—quickly
reading the prefaces written by the authors, selecting a few books, and going
home to read them aloud to his grandmother.
Between school hours, fights and games with friends,
studies, and household chores—like bringing freshly milked milk from Uthandi’s
house in East Street, buying vegetables along with curry leaves and groundnut
candy from Ramu Pillai’s shop in North Street, going with his father to the
rice mill and watching paddy being processed into husk, bran, and rice, and
carrying them back in sacks—after all this, whatever little time remained
belonged to the library.
Magazines like Ananda Vikatan, Kumudam, Kalki, Rani,
Thuglak, Kannan, Gokulam, Kalaikathir, Amudasurabhi, Kalaimagal, Pesum Padam,
and Bommai—some he read, some he just looked at for pictures.
This was the time when his interest in stories, poems,
drawings, and essays began to grow—and he too started trying his hand at
writing and drawing.
The writings that drew him in were by giants like
Kalki Krishnamurthy, Na. Parthasarathy, Lakshmi, Vandu Mama, Bharathidasan,
Thiruvalluvar, Ilango Adigal, Kambar and many more towering figures.
It was the librarian who introduced him to these authors and
guided his reading—he remains unforgettable.
The conversations between Vandiyathevan and Kundavai in Ponniyin
Selvan,
Sathyamoorthy and Mohini in Pon Vilangu,
Devaki and Eswaran in Mithila Vilas—
And the illustrations by Maniam, Gopulu, and Vijaya that
gave life to these characters.
Most books in that library were newly printed, with minimal
illustrations—but they captivated him deeply.
From the library books, he learned:
- The
inspiring life notes of famous personalities through the self-improvement
essays of Abdul Rahim
- The
emotional and patriotic poems of Bharathidasan
- The
natural rhythm and wordplay in Ra. Pi. Sethu Pillai’s essays
- Countless
illustrated stories beginning with Vandu Mama’s Maragatha Silai
- The
satire of Cho in Thuglak
- Serial
stories in Ananda Vikatan
- Popular
features in Dina Thanthi like Kannitheevu, Pudhu Penn
Ponni, and Adangatha Angamuthu
Detective Govindan from Rangaraju’s novels roaming
Triplicane…
Kalki Krishnamurthy’s Ponniyin Selvan, Sivagamiyin Sabadham, Parthiban
Kanavu…
Lakshmi’s Mithila Vilas and Suryakantham…
Na. Parthasarathy’s Kurinji Malar, Pon Vilangu, Mani Pallavam…
So many works, so many worlds.
There were also:
- S.A.P.’s
Kadhalenum Theevinile
- Cho’s
Kovadis
- The
thrilling chapter titles of Maayavi’s mystery stories
- The
humor of Saraswathi in Nadodi’s stories
- Tamilvanan’s
characters Sankarlal and Wahab
- Devan’s
Thuppariyum Sambu—later seen again as a bound magazine collection
in Sivagangai
And illustrators like Vinu (in Kalki), Maya, and many
others.
One could go on and on.
Amidst all this, while some friends secretly passed around
books like Valibam and Sarojadevi, it was the librarian who
guided him toward good reading taste.
He nurtured that taste, fed it constantly, appreciated
it—and took joy in watching it grow.
That librarian…
was truly a teacher of the library.
— Nagendra Bharathi
My Poems/Stories/Articles in Tamil and English
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