THOOTHUKUDI: It might take the fragrance of shaving cream and sound of scissors to wake you up to the reality that you are inside a salon, for the ‘library’ of nearly 1,500 books inside it casts a spell not so easy to shake off.
That is where 39-year-old P Pon Mariappan makes his living.
His salon at Millerpuram became the talk of the town since November last when he started offering discounts to customers who spent their waiting time reading a book from his library, which he set up in 2015.
However, little did he know that his good deed would bring him on the Prime Minister’s radar.
Mann ki Baat
When the Doordarshan staff invited him to the studio to speak on a ‘radio programme,’ on Thursday, Mariappan did not know that the said programme was PM Modi’s Manathin Kural (Mann ki Baat) radio programme.
His heart swelled with happiness when the PM lauded his efforts to inculcate reading habit among people. “I feel encouraged and rejuvenated after speaking to him,” said Mariappan.
When Modi asked him the inspiration behind setting a library inside his shop, Mariappan said how poverty made him drop out of school and how he regretted it. He also expressed his love for Thirukkural, his favourite book.