One Wish, One Dream and A Realization

This evening, when I connected the Internet, I, never even for a second, thought I would end up with this. This blog is more than a piece written for my readers. My consistently inconsistent readers who either sometimes stumble upon my blog or are forced to visit it once in a while unable to resist my innumerous pleas.

It is much much more than that. It’s an urge to be a part of an attempt, an irresistible need to resound some meager yet immensely substantial effort that not just makes me proud of some but also full of remorse for some others.

I am talking about this slightly queer friend of mine who evangelizes the concept of a home library. I have often read and seen a library as one of the most prized possessions of the classic pages of any Victorian Novelist, the parlors of the affluent and the prudent but hardly have I ever come across a situation where it means a lifetime, a wish, a dream and also a passion that leads of an array of realizations to not just one individual but an entire family, a locality and a village.

In Agia, a small pocket of Goalpara, Maheshwar Nath Memorial Library was inaugurated by some distinguished literary personas on 1 June 2009. The initiative taken by the family members and friends of Late Sir Maheshwar Nath was a small yet massive step towards making a difference, a perfect example of how small things make a sea of difference. From digging out old good reads to creating the library database, it was a sight, an instance of undivided enthusiasm, a passion to achieve something that’s achievable yet rarely achieved. It’s not just the result but the entire effort behind it that perhaps triggered the overwhelming response it received from the masses: the many excited people who contributed to the venture, the smiles and demand of the nascent readers, the testimonials, the self satisfaction achieved out of it and the ongoing effort that’s still driving it and keeping it alive.

How many times have you wanted to make giant changes in the way things happen in this world? The classic statements of our school essays “eradicate poverty, combat terrorism, clean up politics” and the list goes on…..

On the contrary, how many times have you missed your native place, contemplated about how you could make your existence felt in “my native land”?

Following my friend’s example, how many times in a day have I cursed my unmanageable cabinets? The good old books that lie there all but to collect the shaft of dust! Could I have done something about them? Each of us may not be in a position to follow our friends example ditto but isn’t there something within our capacity that we can do and enjoy out of this effort?