Beat lockdown blues with a book
SIVAGANGA: Thirty-six-year-old Muruguan, who runs a second-hand book shop, has an offer for all of you who believe that this lockdown is a bleak spell that befell your lives -- “Grab any one book for free from my shelves and read.”
A bibliophile and a resident of Madurai Road in Sivaganga, Murugan told TNIE on Wednesday that he has a collection of second-hand Tamil books of different genres ranging from classic, historic, self-help, essay, autobiography, poetry, novels, reference, and religious books. He said any reader can visit his shop -- Tamil Kudiyon Pazhaiya Nool Angadi at Kalavasal of Sivaganga -- between 8 am to 12 pm to choose a book. “They can keep the one book they choose. However, if they, after reading the first book, desire another, they should return the first one,” Murugan said.
On how he became a bibliophile, he said, “Years ago I worked at a courier firm under one Mohammed Ali of Thiruppur. The monthly salary was Rs 1500 but Ali paid me Rs 1,000 and gave me books for the remaining Rs 500 every month,” he said.
He said this was the right time to cultivate reading habit among public. He knows that he will have to suffer a loss, but he believes that many in the town are not economically well-off to spend money buying a book in these extraordinary circumstances.