An Unknown Story

A Boigram
Even in the power of social media, ‘Boighar’ at street corners, do you know about ‘Boigram’? The nickname of village Perumkulam in Kerala, India is 'Boigram'. How did Perumkulam become ‘Boigram’? That was a long time back, it was a very dark day. The day was January 30, 1948. Mahatma Gandhi was shot dead by extremist Hindu Nathuram Godse. The whole India was saddened by the sudden news of mourning.
Perumkulam, a small village in Kerala, is also severely depressed. But the youth of this village did not just sit in a bad mood. They decided to do something in return. Such work that pays also homage to the great patriot, at the same time society and civilization will get benefit. So a young man named Krishna Pillai from Perumkulam and a few others bought some books. Some more books were also collected from the villagers. In all, there were hundreds of books. The books were kept in a room of the Pillai family. This is how the first library of Perumkulam was established. The library was named 'Bapuji Memorial Library'. But no village can become a 'book village' for a single library. How did that recognition come about?

The time was 2016. 69 years have passed in between. By this time, the Bapuji Memorial Library has become one of the most important libraries in the region. Various grants are becoming available for the promotion and dissemination of the book. Today's generation has decided that the whole Perumkulam will be turned into a 'library' this time. How that will be? It was decided to build small 'bookstores' at the corners of the village roads. The work was also done as per decision. In fact, a small bookshelf was built on the side of the road. Books can be taken away by opening the door of that bookshelf, books are safe inside only if you close it again. The wooden box-shaped bookshelf is also covered with a suitable cover to prevent the book from getting wet in the rain. There are 50 books in each bookstore on the side of Perumkulam road. There is also a fancy rule of reading books from the path-library. It doesn't cost even money to read a book from here. Completely free. However, if you keep a book of your own in the library, then you can collect a book from there.