‘Books must go to the readers,’ says Uncle Moosa

NEW DELHI: Sathyarayan Mundayoor is a former income tax inspector and trainer, an educator, and education administrator. His other avatar, Uncle Moosa, is a beloved storyteller, a bringer of books and joy to children.

As the creator of a network of community libraries, used by thousands in Arunachal Pradesh, it is Uncle Moosa who will be conferred the fourth highest civilian award in India. His selection for the Padma Shri was announced on January 25.

Originally from Kerala, Mundayoor came to Arunachal Pradesh to volunteer at a Vivekananda Kendra Vidyalaya in 1979. He also started penning down stories for children and reading aloud to them after school. Along the way, he became Uncle Moosa. “My name is hard to pronounce and when I started interacting with children, I thought why not use Uncle Moosa?” he said
sheepishly.

After working for the school system for two decades, he ventured out to set up the libraries. “I grew up at a time when the libraries were a very strong influence in developing social life in Kerala,” he said. He decided to bring that culture of reading to the communities in the north-eastern state.

‘Nurturing Creativity’

Mundayoor’s ideas on education developed during his 13 years at the training institute in Mumbai. There, Mundayoor met scholars and intellectuals who influenced his thoughts. But he was most attracted to the idea of education articulated by Swami Vivekananda. “He was the first one who spoke to me directly on education,” he said. “It is about bringing out the potential of young minds and nurturing their creativity.” But first, he had to retain children in schools.

Without electricity, the schools in Lohit valley were not very attractive. As an educator and later, as an administrator, Mundayoor figured “the only way to promote education was to allow them to feel the joy of learning”. He said: “It could only be done by making the experience of reading more stimulating and creative.”

He started storytelling sessions for children after school hours. Initially, he did this only for students staying in the school hostels. “When the readers don’t come to books, the books must go to the readers,” he reasoned.

He began by reading to them legends of European figures such as Robin Hood but they didn’t go down well. Noticing this, Mundayoor travelled across the country to buy books at discounted rates and carried them back to the school libraries and these were a hit. “Our mentors read out these stories to the kids before they go to bed,” he said. “We wanted to put happy
children to bed.”

The first library

In 2002, he was ready for new challenges.

“I did not want to save the community, I wanted them to participate and contribute equally for their empowerment,” he adds. “It was a practical move because the people in Arunachal do a lot of work together. They collect firewood together, practice community agriculture and celebrate festivals as a community.”

Mundayoor launched his effort to introduce the ‘de-institutionalised library movement’ – establishing standalone libraries that are not part of any institution – with an aim to provide reading material beyond the school curriculum. He explained: “In remote areas like Lohit, students do not have access to books.” The Association of Writers and Illustrators for Children, founded by writer and cartoonist, K. Shankar Pillai, was an early supporter, contributing as many as 9,000 books. But when he began, Mundayoor had no space to store or display the books.

KGBV Supliang reading campaign

So, the library movement was initially carried out through book exhibitions and reading campaigns, he said. But crucial support came from Prashant S. Lokhande, former deputy commissioner of Lohit. “In 2004-05, Lokhande came to Dibang and extended his support to us,” recalled Mundayoor. “With his help, the first community library was set up in Tezu, located in the Lohit district in 2007.”

As the movement was intended to engage young readers outside the “conventional set-up” of a school, the library was opened after school hours. “We realised this movement cannot flourish within the school hours,” he said. They adopted an “after-school model”. It gradually became popular amongst the children.

The Lohit Library Network

Mundayoor realised that the reason behind the success of the libraries is the freedom of choice they offer. Children and other members of the community can come in their free time and read books of their choice.

However, providing books was not enough. “Other than opportunity, we must give the skills and here lies the hurdle,” he explained. “If the students are not trained in reading English then the whole structure falls. Children will then be forced to learn the basic texts and pass the examination.”

He further added: “This is going to ruin India. The examination should be of least importance and learning should be the priority. But you cannot fight the system, you can only side-track it by creating a more attractive option.” The library provided a space for bonding, reading, story-telling and enactment of short plays. Over the years, the number of libraries has grown to 13.

As each one grew, it was handed over to local non-profits or volunteers to run. Today, the Lohit Library Network, spread across four districts in Arunachal Pradesh, caters to approximately 10,000 readers.

Despite this, Mundayoor believes he has “touched only a small part of the community”. He hopes to collaborate with others who wish to “replicate or improve and implement this model in their areas”. In addition to supervising 13 libraries, he has now begun free counselling and support for rural tribal girls from eastern Arunachal who are first-generation applicants for higher education.

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