Delhiwale: ‘Noise has increased considerably'
Every spot and corner is awash with utmost silence. The library at the India International Centre is so quiet that the awareness of one's own breathing feels intrusive. Even so, the chief librarian's disapproving notice, stuck close to the Air Quality Index meter, observes that 'we have been receiving number of complaints from users of the library that level of noise has increased considerably in the premises…'
This afternoon, the IIC's members-only library is half-full. Everyone is motionless, while the bookless world outside the library's glass wall is looking otherworldly. With her back to those exteriors, a white-haired woman is absorbed in a slim novel, a slight smile lighting up her face. All the other people in the library are glued to their screens. Some have claimed the computer terminals on the 'Internet kiosk.' Others have their own laptop.
This is ironical, for the library is rich with books of great physical beauty, some of which are almost like objects of art. The bindings alone on a few of these volumes are grand, as venerable as any museum exhibit. Additionally, two racks are devoted to well-worn dictionaries. A much longer rack is padded with encyclopaedias of many kinds. Elsewhere, shelf after shelf is packed with precious editions. Such as the blue hardbacks of Arabian Nights (Richard Burton translation). An entire network of shelves is devoted to books by Gandhi, and books on Gandhi—with titles like 'Beloved Bapu: the Gandhi-Mirabehn Correspondence,' and 'Let's Kill Gandhi: Chronicle Of His Last Days, The Conspiracy, Murder. Investigations And Trial.' The glass cabinet containing rare old editions of Kipling and Shakespeare is sadly locked. In the room devoted to books on art, a corner shelf is topped with a huge illustrated volume on the Himalayas, 'gifted by Dr Manmohan Singh.' A hardbound on the great Rodin has full-page black-and-white photos of his sculptures.
The library also has a row of wood-panelled cubicles for members needing a more intense solitude.
Seated on one of the desks, an elegantly attired library member with a red rose in her long black braid turns out to be artist and scholar Navina Jafa. Graciously acceding to a request, she walks to the bookshelves, and poses for a portrait. See photo.
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