A haven for bibliophiles: Remote Kashmir hamlet a hit among book buffs

Barely two kilometers away from Asia’s second largest freshwater lake Wular, a remote village in North Kashmir’s Bandipora district has been turned into a book village, something unique in the Himalayan valley. Almost 60 to 70 percent population in the village is associated with agriculture and horticulture and the literacy rate in the past two decades has gone up The village, which mostly comprises a tribal population, especially Gujjars, doesn’t have any single library block but the books have been distributed and placed in over 15 different villagers’ homes where not only local readers but visiting tourists from different parts of the country read books— some on the banks of Arin Nallah, who’s gushing waters provide a serene atmosphere for book reading away from the hustle and bustle of the busy life of cities and towns. Slowly the youths have started developing the habit of book reading.” Siraj, who is pursuing a doctorate in history and has spent most of his life outside Kashmir in Maharashtra and other states, said, ”Ours is the most backward village, these books have brought our place on the map of J&K and also India as dozens of tourists especially those from Maharashtra visited the village. I hope the day will come when the book village will be one of the most visited places for tourists,” said Siraj, while showing books related to various subjects. Unfortunately, it didn’t work and finally, we decided to set up this in Aragam this resting place of famous Sufi poet Lal sahib Aragami and is located close to Wular with beautiful meadows in its backyard,” he said, adding in a couple of years, they aim to create a book bank comprising five lakh books in the village.