'Shelf Life' is a fortnightly series that explores the reading culture in Mumbai. This week, we look at Ramesh Tukaram Shinde’s personal library, consisting of rare books and documents authored by Dr BR Ambedkar and collected over a period of 60 years
Ramesh Tukaram Shinde is a resident of Goregaon, Mumbai. Photo Courtesy: Manjit Thakur/Mid-day
“In general libraries, it is difficult to find many books on Dr Ambedkar or Ambedkarite movement. They do not want to keep it. The same casteist mentality prevails today,” says Ramesh Tukaram Shinde, an 88-year-old book collector from Mumbai. He goes on to narrate his experiences of disappointments with school libraries back in the pre-independence era, which did not include a crucial book on the economy of the time, ‘The Problem of the Rupee’ by Dr BR Ambedkar, in their catalogue.
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