Where books mean the world - Bhopal, India

Mobile librarians on the road. They bring books to the people who live on the margins of society, where the nearest bookshop is simply too far away. They take us with them on their rounds and introduce us to the world of their readers. In this episode of the five-part documentary series, we meet Muskaan Ahirwar in India. Bhopal is the capital of the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The name of this industrial city, with a population of almost two million, is still associated with the chemical disaster of 1984. In Durga Basti, a slum in the middle of the city, eleven-year-old Muskaan Ahirwar has created something unique and hopeful: her library “Kitabi Masti”, which translates as “Book Fun”. Muskaan lives with her mother, her older sister and two younger brothers in a small hut in the slum. In the only sparsely furnished living room, where the whole family eats, sleeps and otherwise spends time, a metal cabinet with Muskaan's books stands next to the bulky cooling unit. Every afternoon, Muskaan takes out a selection of her literary treasures and sets up her small library for the other children in the slum. Muskaan knows that education is the most important thing for her and the other children to escape from poverty. That's why Muskaan wants to become a government official later on. Right next to the slum is the office building of the state educational institution Rajya Shiksha Kendra. The head of the media office, Amitabh Anuragi, discovered Muskaan's special abilities and continues to support her to this day. The children are especially happy when Pankaj comes. The student visits the slum twice a week as a volunteer and helps the children with their studies. Sometimes he also takes them on trips so that they can get to know their city better. He even invited Muskaan and her family to his cousin's wedding. Of course Muskaan went, her arms artfully decorated with henna tattoos, or mehendi.