CHENNAI: As you flip through the fresh smelling pages of a new novel, eagerly reading every word, every sentence, every paragraph, carefully, making sure not to miss out anything. And as you end the novel, there are so many questions in your head. But who do you ask? That’s where the concept of human libraries is fascinating. You could read/listen to the book and interrupt the book (read person) in between and ask him or her any doubts you have and interact with the book too, so it wouldn’t just be one-sided.
Human library has been around for some time; however, the session I attended was special.
It was initiated and organised to create and spread awareness on mental health. A Gurugram-based project, Living Stories, managed and run by Sanchana Krishnan, organised the Chennai chapter of ‘Books in Flesh and Blood’ recently. The project had been previously conducted in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi and they further plan to take it to other cities as well.
My first ‘book’ was Ragul Thangavel, today a happy and successful content writer, Ragul was once mocked and often body shamed, for being overweight. It was during the phase of feeling helpless and anxious that a tragedy struck — he lost his father. “I used to feel low about myself, I did not think I had any skills or talents,” he said. It was in college that he realised his love for writing, started blogging and began content writing.
With a line-up of 10 different books to choose from, the event saw each of the ‘book’ sit in different corners of the room. These were real people out there, sharing real stories. Some of them, still living through the traumas of the past, some of them still on medication, yet so brave, they decided to come out and let people know about their stories.
From stories of battling depression and anxiety or waking up to nightmares, experiencing episodes of panic attacks every night or when not having anybody who could listen to your problems could drive you to the extent of committing suicide, these are real stories, and when these stories unveil right in front of you, it’s overwhelming.
My second ‘book’ was Shilpa Krishnan, a bubbly young woman, who has had episodes of both manic and depression. Having suffered from Bipolar Disorder for the longest time and taking medications even today, Shilpa says she is, in a way, happy. “It is one side of me that is bipolar. I am happy because I get to see and observe different things. For example, I see leaves falling off the tree and twirl till they touch the ground. I don’t know if most people spend time observing such things, but I do, and it just makes me think about how beautiful these little things are,” she smiles.
After having undergone several episodes, running away from home, a failed marriage and an abortion, Shilpa also explained how to handle people who have bipolar disorder.
What I learnt
Each ‘book’ had some kind of takeaway or the other. From understanding their moments of pain and fear to their battle to get through it, their stories spoke of courage, endurance and inspiration.