India, Aug. 31 -- Inside a century-old building overlooking the bustling streets of south Mumbai, a quiet effort is underway to save rare Persian and Urdu translations of Indian scriptures - the last remnants of the country's multi-cultural and inclusive past.

The Karimi Library, housed within the 152-year-old Anjuman-I-Islam institute, has embarked on a restoration drive to rescue more than 32 sacred Hindu texts, including Mahabharat, Ramayan, Bhagavad Gita, and Shiv Puran, printed between 1867 and 1896.

The structure, which stands near the iconic Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, is home to books, newspapers, manuscripts in Sanskrit, English, Urdu, Persian, Marathi, Pashto, Arabic, books on history, philosophy, theology, literatur...