A small school in Chowringhee tucked away in a narrow lane has reached
out to a library in Falta, Diamond Harbour, this festive season.
For Puja, the library distributes saris to some mothers of children who come to borrow books. The parents of the children are mostly tailors, zari workers or daily wage labourers.
Ashina Jubak Sangha Gramin Library, with barely enough space for 10 people to sit, caters to 1,100 students from 15 neighbouring villages who take turns to visit and borrow books.
Chowringhee High School in Calcutta sent them 35 saris last week, continuing their social work despite calling off the 25-year-old Durga Puja that they would host on their premises.
“We shifted the Puja to our home because logistically it was difficult to manage it in the school. But we have not given up the social work that we would do during Puja,” said Harshita Dasani, principal, Chowringhee High School.
Following another tradition, the school will distribute bhog to their neighbours, who include daily wage workers. The school will also hand out hampers to underprivileged girls in the area.
Chowringhee High School received the award for social service and Hasan Ali Saikh, who runs the Ashina Jubak Sangha Gramin Library, received the Thank You Bondhu award at The Telegraph School Awards for Excellence this year.
During the award ceremony, the organisers appealed to the audience to reach out to the library that caters to so many students but barely has any funds.
“We survive on help from people,” said Saikh, 38, who is a tailor.
The library was on the brink of closure during the Covid pandemic when Saikh stepped in.
“The children were not going to school at that time. We lent out books to them so they could study. We give them textbooks that they can keep for a year and reference books for two weeks. The demand for storybooks is not much here,” he said.
Saikh had to give up his studies in Class VI because his parents could not afford to buy books for him.
“There are many children who want to study but financial constraints come in the way. The library tries to support them in a small way,” he said.
It was during the award ceremony at the Science City auditorium that Chowringhee High School decided to help the library.
“We had taken Saikh’s contact details. We will give them stationery for the children in November. But since they were distributing saris before Puja, we decided to help out with what we could,” said Dasani.
