At free reading room, newspaper habit thrives

Every day, elderly citizens drop by the Indian Cultural and Educational Academy to read a variety of newspapers for free. The centre, located in Canara Bank Colony in Chikkakallasandra, is better known by its former name Sneha Uchita Vachanalaya.

It was started 27 years ago for senior citizens in and around the area to read newspapers, discuss and resolve civic complaints, and socialise. Now the reading room is also used for singing bhajans, celebrating festivals,  and social service such as raising funds for dialysis patients. Elders also extend emotional and financial help to each other in times of need. 

Engineer and local resident M R Narendra Babu initiated it after taking a voluntary retirement at 51. The retired folk would earlier convene around a public bench in the locality and later at a room that Babu had rented nearby. As the count of readers grew to 40, they shifted to the current location around 2010.

Metrolife visited the space at 11 am on Thursday. Four women and six men, including Babu, were seated in plastic chairs lined along the walls. Among them were a retired teacher, railways staff, civil engineer, tehsildar, a woman who does tailoring at home, and homemakers. People pour in after 8.30 am. Some read inside, some under the shade of trees outside.

Y S Nagaraj, 78, pores over the paper “A to Z”. Maltesh Gadgoli, 69, likes reading about the railways sector, and heritage conservation. He briefly worked as a “news collector” for a friend who edited a small-scale children’s weekly newspaper. “I went to Dharwad and Mudbidri to cover events,” he recalls. Viswanathan T V, who was the second person to join the initiative 27 years ago, is interested in editorial commentary. “Now most of that is biased,” rues the 87-year-old. Padma Manjunath, 68, wonders why English dailies don’t print herbal recipes. Others complain about business pages not publishing gold and silver rates, and media overdoing political coverage. “I like development news like health cover for senior citizens,” says Babu.

The footfall has fallen since the centre’s temporary closure during the pandemic. Earlier, the group would discuss daily problems such as the impact of the rising milk price. Now this Thursday activity has been discontinued. They now get seven newspapers instead of 16 — the mounting cost of newspapers and rent of the room are additional reasons. Babu’s savings and donations by well-wishers are keeping the space running. But Babu admits it's a struggle.  

Open all days, 7 am-6 pm, #33/1, Canara Bank Colony, Chikkakallasandra, near Uttarahalli. Call 99164 29637 

The idea was initiated by M R Narendra Babu (front row, second from left).