Online or offline Bangalore-based Harsh Snehansh has launched a dating app that matches users based on their reading history and preferences. “Profile pictures are hidden until 10 messages have been exchanged, so the initial connection is purely based on shared literary interests,” he says, adding, “Here, books are the catalyst.”
Other clubs, like Saturday Ada in Pune, encourage people to switch off. “Here, we put our phones aside for 90 minutes and fully concentrate on the task at hand – reading, writing, knitting – and then we discuss the experience,” says organiser Aditya Rajawade. In January, Aditya also started a book swap, with members meeting once every two months to swap 10-11 books each time. Members bring a book with a note wrapped around it. For the first 30 minutes, everyone talks anonymously for a minute or two about the book they’ve brought.
The book swap corner at a boutique in Bangalore (left) and a session at Bandra Reeds
Feast & QuizBroke Bibliophiles of Delhi makes reading as interactive as possible through quizzes, story writing, zine making, meme making and more. Monthly meetups revolve around a theme or genre and take place in bookstores and heritage locations. Similarly, Kolkata’s Kalam Club aims to provide the best reading experience to its Kolkata Literary Meet goers. “We bring characters and stories to life through our interpretation of a theme. We also invite luminaries like Arundhati Roy and Amitav Ghosh and often pair these sessions with book-themed meals. We have even staged plays under this banner,” says club founder Malavika Banerjee.
B3D’s monthly meetings are centered around a theme or genre. And the community Discuss Not just books, but movies and video games too.
Read more, read betterDelhi’s Project Bibliotherapy aims to inspire people to ‘read more and better’. “In 2021, we are launching a curated zine featuring 42 diverse articles by 42 authors, encouraging readers to scroll less and read more. Everyone who participates in these programmes has one thing in common – they all want to enhance their reading habit. We are also organising reading marathons, where people read for 14 days a month to build or rebuild their reading habit and make them accountable for reading. Such events bring together people of all ages. Our aim is for people to come together and experience the magic of reading,” say Nandini Swaminathan and Nitin Goel, founders of the initiative. Guided reading meditations are also conducted to encourage reading.
Project Bibliotherapy Guided Reading Meditations
“Unlike other book clubs, our focus is not just on the book, characters and plot but on discussions about what the reader felt when reading the book and how the text works in the current context (politics, society, cultural beliefs, etc.). As a community-led group, we conduct book swaps (where people bring second-hand books and take one home) and literary tours, and provide an opportunity for people to connect with the local reading culture in the capital by visiting Mahila Haat and old bookshops across the city and meeting booksellers. The group meets once a month and sometimes in open spaces like Sunder Nursery and Lodhi Garden, but sometimes in bookshops or cafes depending on the weather. Experiencing such a community-oriented book club shows that it is possible to have a judgment-free space,” say Moreena Singh and Paridhi Puri, founders of Delhi Reads.
Delhi Reads meet in cafes and outdoors too
