It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single school in possession of a library must censor its collection. Or so we suspected.
Schools are inevitably ideologically charged institutions that represent precise social and historical concerns of their times, and function with their own frameworks of disciplining/ shaping the cultural understanding of their students. It follows that certain texts would be considered inflammatory, unsuitable, or too dangerous for students (children) to read… texts that could turn them mad, bad or wicked!
Along with the educators and administrators of these educational institutions, parents, peers, and even children themselves may participate in the act of censorship. It also follows that young readers would be keen to access forbidden texts and and find ways to subvert whatever censorship they encountered.
We at Torchlight wanted to confirm these assumptions, so we put the word out to readers, well-wishers and friends, to reflect on and share their experiences of censorship in school and growing up. This took the form of a short survey.
Presented below is a collation of – and excerpts from – the responses we recieved, as they stand right now. We hope you enjoy this exploration, and even add your own responses to the ongoing survey, if you wish (find the link at the end).
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Are you mad, bad or wicked about books?
How old are you?
When did you begin to love reading?
(excerpts)
“As far back as I can remember”
“Since 6 years or so, I think. I was read aloud to as a child at home, and loved listening to stories and looking at the pictures. This developed into my love for reading and books”
“School”
“Around 15 – 16 years”
“I guess when I came to Bookworm, when I first came as a volunteer”
“Before I could actually make out words. Picture books and even regular books were something I knew to sit back and listen to and follow the finger (my mom’s) to know of strange people, different places and wonderful things.”
“In High school when I was gifted one of Enid Blyton’s books and, failing to occupy myself with any other activity, I started reading.”
“After I learned the alphabet. Started reading chapter books as a 5 year old.”
“Age 12”
“When I was so young I don’t even remember what age.”
“Age 22”
“Ever since I could read, I’ve read my whole life basically.”
Did you ever feel your school library collection was censored?
If so, what books were censored?
(excerpts)
“We had an extensive collection of books but the librarian used to open only those shelves which were supposedly relevant for us”
“I think the library exclusively contained “happy” books – complete non existence of real / fictional dark themes.”
“Books that helped you live an ‘ideal’ – Christian life were the norm. So, of course, no sexual content and even the slight romance in the Nancy Drew Series were accessible only from Class VIII. But I do belong to a time where availability of books for young adults was not even a genre and there was a vacuum between the mystery/ adventure – Asimov- Gorky and other Russian writing being our only entry point.”
“Sexual content, books that weren’t by British/American/Indian authors, essays and criticism”
“All of what would qualify as pulp fiction- thrillers and steamy romances especially.”
“Fascist stuff, which makes sense.”
“Censorship existed in the form of students tearing out anything they liked from steamy books. Besides this censorship, it existed in the form of excluding books by certain authors (Sidney Sheldon)”
“The selection was limited. Books that had anything to do with sexual matters were definitely excluded, romantic titles, I think even books that seemed violent were excluded.”
“I have been to many places and schools and each had its own pattern of selection. Indian writings in English (popular, current) were frowned upon in a convent school stating that you should learn “Good English”. Popular Magazines and Comic books were frowned upon in another and I was even punished for carrying one to school to show, since it was “reading”. In another place, there was a definite slant against any religion based texts. We were also forbidden to mention Salman Rushdie at one time. I am not sure the censorship was always with malintent as much as misguided.”
“We were not allowed to read books meant for higher grades. As far as I remember, books with any sexual or violent content were completely absent.”
“The library focused on form and design without seeking to place them in the context of conflict, oppression and society”
“Books on gender, sexuality, violence”
“We were given a limited assortment of books to chose from as opposed to just going through the shelves and choosing for ourselves. Language books were missing.”
“When I was a student in my school, books on the human Body were very much censored.”
“Did not feel it was censored, just felt that a school library has only a certain type of books.”
“Primarily, Sex education.”
Did you read them anyway?
How did you access these forbidden books?
Additional responses:
“Whenever the librarian was absent or not around, we use to read books meant for higher grades too.”
“Raddiwala Libraries, those were the best. “
“My parents never stopped me from buying or reading any books.”
Did you censor or limit your own interest and curiosity about certain themes in books?
If yes, why?
Additional responses:
“Magical themed books were one of the few books censored at home when we were young.”
“Those books never really felt relevant to my circumstances at that point in time, or perhaps didn’t really interest me.”
“Lack of awareness. the internet didn’t exist then in the form it does now.”
Did the fact that you were reading a forbidden book influence your experience of reading it?
If yes, how?
(excerpts)
“Made me more curious.”
“The fact that I was reading some of those forbidden books has led me to grim realisations about the perception of the society especially regarding some areas of morality and history.”
It was very fun. I had to hide the Sidney Sheldons from some teachers, of course. Also, finding naughty stories in horror books was so fun! Sometimes these books would exist in the libraries and I wouldn’t tell anyone about them.
“Only if I knew it was forbidden, for I then used, what I now realise are, counter reading strategies. But very often I read books without realising that they were frowned upon. So I just took the story at face value.”
“It was more exciting to read the book.”
“I hadn’t read Harry Potter, but had heard A LOT about it. This increased my curiosity while reading it; I had everything in mind, the supposed negative impact, as well as the wonderful reviews from friends.”
“I felt when I read those books, I learnt some of the important features of our human body which normally my parents would never discuss with me.”
“It felt like I knew more about the adult world than my peers. So my wanton reading gave me an edge and turned me into a rather confident adult.”
“Strict upbringing. My parents restricted access to chocolate and music, too, for example. Always heightens the appeal.”
“I devoured them much quicker so I could get to the subversive bits faster.”
“The reader is always wondering what part of the book was so inflammatory that it needed censorship.”
“Made it feel like a rite of passage to adulthood.”
Did your attitude towards libraries shift with the shift from accessing a school library to a university library?
If yes, how?
(excerpts)
“Yes, by the time you are matured and enter post 10th std, I feel, then nobody would force you. Life really changes after the 10th std.”
“In the university, there is more diversity in the theme and content of books, better access to controversial books, books with much more social and political undertones than the books at the school level.”
“University seems so mechanical and technical. Here, I shifted from selecting stories to reading theories. I enjoyed it, but often stories were what I found outside the library, since the University stockpiled theoretical books more often than not. Across languages.”
“More in terms of autonomy and choice. At university level, we have the freedom to choose what we want to read. Plus there are no judgements /restrictions when you go and issue books.”
“I had access to libraries beyond school as a child too, my university library did not surprise me, but going through the security at British Council library in Delhi did. I wasn’t used to the interiors of a library like that either. I think how these spaces were designed was the most surprising aspect to me outside of a school library.”
“Instead of accessing a library to read for fun, I started accessing to gather information about my academic subjects.”
“The grad school I went to actively sought to include access to dissident views and alternate/non-mainstream/non-revisionist history. It no longer does, but I lucked out and got my post-grad before things changed.”
“Just the pure scale and variety, it was overwhelming.”
“University library was more than books – it became a space for thinking, reading, conversing etc.”
“Uni library was course-specific, so not as much fun.”
“My university Library became the space I would read, think and develop ideas – it also helped that no talking was allowed.”
“Did it on my own terms. Public Libraries rule!”
—- —- —-
Thank you for reading. If you’re interested in taking the survey, here’s the link to it:
https://forms.gle/AqosHo9oupykUgDS7
Illustration: Alia Sinha
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