“My grandpa is an avid reader and his learning has no age limit or boundary. His wisdom is through ink and paper. The first thing he does at morning is to grab the Tamil magazine and his gold framed spectacles.
I was inspired by his activities and one fine day, he took me to the Chennai book fair. It was magical. I saw a lot of people as curious as him. He got me books, enrolled me in public libraries and showed me my destination. Since then books have uplifted me, guided me and molded me into what I am becoming.
The other person who enabled me to find my calling was Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam sir. His passion and love for children made me leap into the field of education. I read a lot of childrens’ books and I visualized a library exclusively for children. I thought, that if books could make my grandfather a simple person and help me discover my inner calling, they could do magic to young minds.
I named my library DULKAL – DUL from his first name and KAL his last name to make his vision 2020 come true. Dulkal is a child friendly library run on gift culture. My friends and I have set up two libraries in the outskirts of Chennai to enhance the love of reading and writing skills. In the future, we see it getting transformed into an alternative school uplifting children, parents and the community.
Dulkal will enrich one’s life, help discover one’s passion and uplift one another along with Mother Earth. Right now we are conducting reading programs for children and reading- painting activities for passionate adults.
I would want Dulkal to be a place for children, parents and the community to connect with books, nature and sustainability and a place to ‘learn and unlearn’ in their own time and space. Dulkal is about finding one’s inner core values and aura.”

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