This Woman From Kerala Walks Kilometres Everyday To Distribute Books To The Women In Her Village

This Woman From Kerala Walks Kilometres Everyday To Distribute Books To The Women In Her Village

When you do what I do, you come across so many stories about dynamic women doing things beyond anyone’s imagination. Whoever said that women are weak or are only meant to work in the kitchen and do house chores is just jealous. Daily, I come across women who are an inspiration to us all. And today, we are talking about a woman from Kerala who is exactly like that. Radhamani KP, or as people like to call her ‘the walking librarian’. She walks around her village distributing books to women. What an amazing concept. Why don’t we have more women like her? 

64-year-old Radhamani, who works at the Prathiba Public Library in Kerala’s Wayanad, told The News Minute that she has been distributing library books to the women in her village for the past eight years. She says that since most of the women work under the MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act), they are at home on Sundays and that’s the best time for them to read books. She walks two to three kilometres every day, lugging around 30 books, just to deliver books to these women. I suddenly feel like I am a very lazy person. 

The reason I find her even more inspirational is that even the pandemic wasn’t enough to deter her from her task. During the early days of the pandemic, people who had grown used to getting books from her, went to her house to borrow books to read during the lockdown. The library Radhmani works at has 102 members, out of which 94 are women. 

Also Read: Meet Kavita Bhondwe, A Differently-Abled Woman Who Is The Sarpanch Of Two Villages. She Is An Inspiration

Originally, Radhamani wrote her story for the Voices of Rural India. She said that at first, these women were only interested in reading local magazines like Mangalam and Manorama. But eventually, they began enjoying the novels she gave them. Now, she even takes suggestions about which books to keep. She took up this job of ‘walking librarian’ in 2012. The Kerala State Library Council had started the initiative of the ‘walking librarian’ that encouraged women from the villages to read. 

Radhamani was always involved with activism. She was a part of Kerala’s poverty eradication and women empowerment programme Kudumbashree and also worked as a guide for the Tourism Department and learnt a bit of French and English. 

We need more walking librarians. It’s a concept that should be expanded pan-India. She really is an inspiration!

https://thehauterfly.com/lifestyle/meet-maitri-wadher-a-woman-who-has-created-an-online-store-that-caters-exclusively-to-left-handed-people-this-was-much-needed/

Mitali Shah

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