The Shanghai Library now has an Indian Section, after a donation multiplied the collection on the country from 15 books to 377.

The Consulate General of India delivered to the library 133 books in English, 129 in Hindi and 100 exclusively on Indian poet and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.

Consul General Prakash Gupta said the consulate has had a long-standing relationship with the Shanghai Library, and both sides said organizing a section on Indian books would be a good opportunity to showcase quality publications from India for local readers.

"We do hope that book lovers from Shanghai will get to develop a better appreciation of Indian ideas, Indian values, Indian culture and the Indian way of life. Even though India and China are neighbors, there is a considerable information gap between our two countries, in particular at the common people's level. We do hope that through this attempt of ours, book readers from Shanghai will get to know more about India and its diversity," Gupta told the Global Times.

A wide spectrum

The books in English cover a wide spectrum, including Indian art forms, culture, philosophy, history, music and biographical profiles. Some of the books explore Indian architectural marvels like the Taj Mahal and showcase select Indian cities like Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad.

"In that sense, the criteria for selection was basically aimed to provide readers from Shanghai an overall and comprehensive understanding of India's democracy, its culture and history," Gupta said.

There are also topics such as cooking and gardening, represented by Usha Lad's Ayurvedic Cooking for Self Healing and Amarjeet Singh Batth's Indian Garden Flowers.

He added that several of the books are not commonly available in bookshops or other libraries here. "As such, it is indeed a very special collection," Gupta said.

Personal recommendations

Gupta recommends four specific titles that he said make for excellent reading. 

The Idea of India, by Sunil Khilnani explores the plurality of ideas that shape the multicultural setting that India offers. 

The government publication 101 Human Stories from Indian Elections: Belief in the Ballot chronicles how the world's largest democracy conducts its elections. 

The third recommendation is authored by K.N. Udupa, Stress and Its Management by Yoga, focusing on how yoga can offer relief from stress and how to deal with it. 

The fourth one that Gupta recommends is B.R. Nanda's Mahatma Gandhi 125 years.

"It is a very inspiring read on how our father of the nation dedicated his entire life for the welfare and benefit of people of India," he explained.

Significant enrichment

The books are available now in the Foreign Language Books area, on the library's fourth floor. A library card is required to access the area.

Zhou Qing, the library's International Cooperation Division officer and coordinator of the donation, said the section is significant as it enriches the library's resources and escalates its multiculturalism.

"I believe readers can make good use of these books to an extent that goes beyond our imagination. However, because we only have a single copy of each so far, we have to limit it to in-library reading instead of borrowing," Zhou told the Global Times.

The Shanghai Library opens an Indian Section after a donation from the Consulate General of India in Shanghai.

 

Indian poet and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore

 

The Idea of India, by Sunil Khilnani

 

B.R. Nanda's Mahatma Gandhi 125 years

Photos: From the Internet and courtesy of Zhou Qing

 
Newspaper headline: Stacking up