Canyon Wall by Ayush Kasliwal, Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, India. Photo courtesy of Raimond Klavins.

“It is easy to be generous or tolerant—which can be just a kind of assured absent-mindedness—when you are in a position of largely uncontested power.”

Poet, novelist, critic, and NER contributor Tabish Khair presents a brief essay and interview with author, librarian, and community organizer Mridula Koshy. They discuss the relationship between literacy and democracy, the library’s ability to undo historic exclusion, and much more. In these difficult times, Mridula Koshy reminds us that “fraternity . . . is the best antidote to far-right, divisive politics.”

“Incubating Fraternity” in the Free Libraries in India: A Conversation with Mridula Koshy

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This is the fourteenth installment in our “Literature & Democracy” series, which presents writers’ responses to the threats to democracy around the world.