Human Library debuts in Mumbai: mid-day signs up to read three books

Readers engage with a book from the Human Library at Bandra West yesterday Pics Sneha KharabeA south Mumbai resident lets her reader into her bigger fear bolted doors A 25yearold man finds himself at peace with his lost mind A Delhibased woman rues chasing validation all her life Thirteen human books opened up a dialogue on experiential lessons when The Human Library made its debut in the city last evening A platform designed to build a positive framework for conversations that can challenge stereotypes and prejudices through dialogue this library houses humans instead of books The library lets readers listen to their stories and at the same time take part in a twoway conversation with the bookRoots in DenmarkThe concept was developed in Copenhagen Denmark in 2000 as a project for Danish music fest Roskilde Festival by Ronni Abergel his brother Dany and colleagues Asma Mouna and Christoffer Erichsen The initiative has found global appeal with many cities featuring their own chapters India has seen two sessions take place previously in Indore and HyderabadThe citys first such initiative was held yesterday from 3 pm to 7 pm at a bookstore in Bandra West with 13 books waiting to be read each dealing with different themes including suicide depression selfdiscovery dropping out of college and weight loss Readers had to register for a certain book and got an upper time limit of 2030 minutes to read it Up to five people could read a book at any given timeMeet the booksOf the 13 books available most were from Mumbai including a south Mumbai woman whose elder brother committed suicide by hanging himself with her skipping rope when she was 14 Her story titled Broken Bridges left a lump in the throat He was gay but didnt know how to talk about it to anyone she said He had attempted to kill himself twice before At the time none of us knew what to say or do to make him feel better When news of her brothers death spread neighbours gathered outside the house gossipingAfter the incident every time I attend a funeral I cant help but laugh there is so much more pain to endure after losing someone that a funeral seems only a trivial bit of the beginning she said I also stopped skipping from that dayShe said the loss transformed her I havent installed locks in their rooms she says of her two children a sign that she is still struggling to cope with the lossWhere is my mind at is the story of a 25yearold man who claims to have lost his mind a long time ago but is at peace with the idea of never finding it again An active helper on suicide helplines he was battling depression but managed to combat it successfully His confidence today is exuberating and he does everything from teaching children to raising funds for impoverished children who want to play sports This jackofalltrades kept the readers engrossed with his high voltage energy and his nonchalant manner of narrating made readers open up to him with doubts about depression and selfdoubtThe last book we read was Light at the end of the tunnel the story of a Delhibased woman whose parents separated when she was a child and who battled anxiety till November last year She was bullied by her schoolmates illtreated by her maternal family and spent most of her life chasing validation from the wrong people The title of the book comes from the tattoo that she sports on her back a reminder that even the darkest tunnels will finally emerge into light Today I know that all the events that happened in the past have no power over me I can choose who I wish to let into my life and who I cut out she said