A quiet study corner surrounded by books and magazines, uninterrupted Wi-Fi, access to an attached café, the occasional poetry reading session, and an affordable monthly subscription. These are the main attractions that draw young people to the dozens of privately-run reading places that have mushroomed in Imphal over the past few years.
About 40 to 50 private reading or study halls, as they are known locally, have been opened in East and West Imphal and in neighboring Kakching areas. Students and competitive exam aspirants are among those who use these spaces to focus on academics, the owners said.
The Covid pandemic and then ongoing racial unrest fueled the need for these community spaces, the owners said, adding that members find them comfortable and safe, giving them the opportunity to focus on studies. Monthly subscriptions aren’t expensive either: in between $700 and $1200 per month.
Online school and college classes and work from home have become common in the state during and in the wake of the Covid pandemic. Following the outbreak of ethnic violence in May 2003, which once again disrupted daily life and academic routines, students began searching for safe alternatives.
New and landscaped spaces meet this demand. “A few years ago, there were only a few places to read in Imphal. I would even run from place to place to get a seat in one of these facilities as seats were limited then,” said Norim Ramayi, a software developer who now runs a reading hall called Think Space in the heart of Imphal city.
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Al-Ramai said, “This is how the idea came to my mind to create a reading center to meet the needs of readers, especially those who have completed their studies and are preparing for the various national level exams.”
Ramachandra, an engineering graduate and government job aspirant from Sagulbandh Nepra Mingur district of Imphal in Manipur, agrees. Ramachandra found reading books and browsing the Internet at Oasis – a popular reading and co-working space in Imphal – suitable for preparing for government civil services exams.
“The emergence of these study rooms is already having tangible effects. Students and career aspirants are becoming more focused… while their parents and guardians are more confident that their sections are a safe and positive place,” said a regular visitor to a reading hall in Imphal, who requested anonymity.
The new centers are proving to be viable alternatives for students from large families and for students from economically disadvantaged families – a haven for reading and studying away from crowded homes and patchy internet.
Many visitors to the reading centers located along the Keshampat to Airport Road area in Imphal, with an average seating capacity of 20-40 people, are those preparing for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and other competitive exams across India, said a staffer at Keshampat Reading Space in Keshampat in Imphal.
The halls are not just for academics. “These places are no longer just for studying – they are safe, quiet places where young people can focus, discipline and connect with a larger community of learners,” Merlin Lamabam wrote in her article “Imval’s Reading Culture Boom: The Rise of Reading Rooms and Libraries” published in a local daily newspaper.
