In the United States, it’s easy to gain quick access to American magazines, journals and books via the public library. However, in India, accessing American texts is a bit more difficult. After the events of September 11, reports Rohit Gupta in Flak magazine, it’s more like a luxury. Getting into the General Information Library at the American Information Resource Centre in Mumbai, writes Gupta, requires “microscopic scrutiny.” Gupta describes the pain of being allowed to look at newspapers, magazines and specific scholarly journals, but then being prohibited from checking anything out for closer study. After you go through the x-ray chamber, “you are stripped of all things electronic, metallic and generally suspicious. Like house keys, ballpoint pens and dignity.”
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