Good, Letter, Best

Writer Kiran Nagarkar’s first library was his grandma. It wasn’t before he was 15, did author Ruskin Bond have access to a public library. In the 15 days she had chickenpox, theatre actor Ratna Pathak Shah read every Famous Five, Secret Seven and Five Find Outers novel that Enid Blyton had written, all borrowed from a bibliotheque. Tall stories these are not. In fact, they’re told by the personalities themselves, in hand written letters they mailed in to mCubed, Bandra’s brand new children’s library, telling kids how lucky they are to have the place.

To Cut a Long Story Short

How three women got 2,800 books, a DVD player and projector in here is another story altogether. We’ll keep it short. Mumbai prfessional Vibha Kamat had a nephew in the US named Neel, whose public library made him pledge to read 30 books over the summer.  He read over 150. He was six. Vibha returned to Mumbai inspired. She typed the story of Neel and sent it out in an email, and was blown away by the response from complete strangers. Their donations made it possible for her, along with co-founders Sonal Bimal and Vaishali Shinde to take over a BMC owned space next to D’monte Park that they’d had their eye on for a while. The happily ever after resulted in a wonderfully airy library with well-stocked candy-coloured shelves and fun floor cushions where kids can sit and read. Luckily, there's no story end in sight.

Tome Sweet Tome

The shelves at this lending library, we’re so, so happy to report, are far superior to any of the bookstores in Mumbai. Divided by genre and age, they start with books on colours, shapes and nursery rhymes for toddlers. Older kids can pick from the usual Enid Blyton and Ruskin Bond fare, Harry Potter and Nancy Drew series. There are also fun graphic novel adaptations of Agatha Christie; Calvin and Hobbes and Asterix comics; and tomes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Shakespeare. Teenagers can borrow the Twilight, Lord of the Rings and Narnia books as well as literature from our favourite Ranjit Lal who writes of birds and beasts. It was when we spotted a sole copy of Waiting for Godot, did we realise that they have expansion plans.

For now there are few books for grown ups, but this will change gradually. We suggest you bypass the outside section stocked with the usual John Grisham-Jeffrey Archer routine and raid the last shelf in the kiddie section that houses Star Wars coffee table books with fill scripts, Kafka, a couple from Maya Angelou and To Kill a Mocking Bird (Co-founder Vibha couldn’t believe that Crossword didn’t have this title when the book turned 50 in 2010.) Boo Radley to you!

Moral Compass

The center also plans to start workshops soon. All you have to do to be a member is pay Rs 600 for six months and borrow unlimited books, each for seven days at a time. Irresponsible book borrowers may or may not take this Peanuts cartoon pasted on the library wall seriously - Charlie Brown writes: Dear Library, I’ve misplaced your book. I'm doing my best to find it. Please don’t harm my mother and father.

Getting there: mCubed, ground floor, Princess Building, next  to Bandra Gym, Bandra (W), call 26411497, Rs 600 for six months (plus a refundable Rs 250 deposit per book). The library is also seeking monetary donations to expand. For more information email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .