![]() He'd play the role of a clown and make people laugh. He grew up, married and continued to nurture his dream.Īs a young man, Polan joined jatra, a local folk theatre. He would borrow books from here and there to read.Īfter spending a childhood in poverty, the extremity of his poverty somewhat abated after he inherited some land from his grandfather. He didn't lose his habit of reading, but there was a dearth of books in the village. After that, poverty curtailed any chance of further education. He went to school, but only up till class six. Polan lost his father when he was just five months old. Polan Sarkar's dream is to rid his village, and the surrounding villages, of illiteracy and ignorance. He covers about 20 villages in Rajshahi, a district of Bangladesh, spurring an innovative reading revolution in the region.Ī large number of people are poor and illiterate in rural Bangladesh, the country with a population of about 150 million. He's been doing this for the past 30 years. The villagers return the books and borrow from the fresh lot he brings along. He buys the books with his own money and lends them to the people. He travels on foot for miles, going from village to village with his books. ![]() He may be all of 94 years, but is sprightly as a young man. ![]() He stands there, smiling, with a bag of books on his shoulder. As the people of the village wake in the morning, the first thing they see is Polan Sarkar.
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