Lighthouse Kids Go to the Asiatic
THE SOUND OF LITTLE FEET SHUFFLING ON WOODEN FLOORS PUNCTUATED THE STOIC SILENCE OF MUMBAI’S 218-YEAR-OLD
ASIATIC LIBRARY WHEN 31 STUDENTS OF OUR LIGHTHOUSE PROJECT VISITED THERE FOR A FIELD TRIP.
For some, it was a new experience. For others, who had been here before with parents, it was a walk down memory lane. Krishna Kate shared that as their school had an e-library, and it was very thrilling for him to visit a brick-and-mortar one.
The children, from standards 1 to 5, were guided through many sections such as the research room and the state library which is a reference section only. They sat and browsed as a Lighthouse alumni went through a book on the Harappan Civilisation and shared some interesting facts that she gleaned from there.
Kavita Manjrekar from the Asiatic’s library section took us around, and shared that history was her favourite subject. There were books as old as the library itself, like the Pune District Gazette dated 1885. A book issue card and counter were shown to the students.
Then came a stop at the conservation and preservation section. Mr. Sunil Bhirud and Mr. Sharad Jadhav showed them a map of Ahmedabad and a book dating to the 19th century which were presently being treated. The children were walked through all the steps like a thorough examining of the book to reveal the texture and thickness of its paper, and ink used (which would direct the course of treatment), its deacidification, conservation and preservation. A special type of tissue-and-paste was shown which is dried in trays, and then cut and bound into books to increase their lifespan
by a few hundred years.
Lastly, our children visited the scanning and microfilm room where books were scanned in 600 dpi, converted to pdfs, and made available digitally. Mr. Sunil was kind enough to show an old palm leaf to illustrate different mediums upon which things were written. This particular manuscript had Odia script on one side and drawings on the other.
Child Welfare Committee of RCB thanks Rtn. Natasha Treasurywala for arranging this educational field trip and fast-food giant McDonald’s for providing burgers for our students and teachers.