New book movements in the city are making the solitary hobby of reading a more distraction-packed experience
When Pravin Subramanian was a 27-year-old, he was bored with the conversations he was forced to sit through at social gatherings and friendly dates. "The best conversations," he tells us, "always happen over books." Had Pravin had his way, he would have liked to turn back the clock to the 'library period' from school, where he first developed a liking to reading. But, he did something else.
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Today, the 33-year-old, is among many others, spearheading an unconventional book movement that hopes to make the otherwise, solitary hobby, a collective experience. As weekend arrives, it's not unusual to find book lovers throng cafés, books in tow, to enjoy silent reading sessions together or end it with an engaging conversation about their most recent read. And then there are 'book fairies', who leave behind titles in nooks and crannies of the city, and podcasts that only breathe and talk reading. The organisers and participants see it less as a trend, and more as a movement triggered by the many, social changes unraveling around us.
An excuse to read
In June 2011, Subramanian reached out to people on social media, asking if they were keen on joining him at a café to simply 'swap' and discuss books. Six years on, the 1,657-member Swapbook! Community on Facebook is growing, with monthly meetings scheduled across the city. "The swap book meetings", he says, "have become an excuse to bring like-minded people together to have conversations, around and beyond books." Everything from board games to debates on art and film, are entertained. After it's all over, the members exchange titles, promising to return them, at the next meet.
The Broke Bibliophiles – Bombay Chapter (B3C), co-founded by Ankush Saxena, and launched in April last year, works on a similar concept, only that the group actually invests at least 35 minutes of silent reading, before piling up their books on a table, and discussing them, every fortnight. "Organising the event has helped me focus on my own reading, and also, add to my existing knowledge of books across genres," says Saxena.
Kadambari Mehta, who started the Mumbai chapter of The Book Fairies, a global initiative dedicated to hiding books for people to find, says they've dropped 100 books across Mumbai in the last five months. "One of the most common places we leave books is public transport, because we want people to stop spending time on their cellphones and read," she says.
Bloomsbury Publishing, which recently donated 53 copies of various titles to The Book Fairies, believes that new movements like these will only further the love for reading. "A book discovered serendipitously invokes some excitement and, possibly, even intrigue. It could be the spark that fires up peoples' imagination to read on," says Yogesh Sharma, Bloomsbury India's vice-president - sales and marketing.
Events like the Reading Social and the Broke Bibliophiles help bring like-minded people together to have fun conversations, around and beyond books
In silent company
Media professional Sona Batla, who attends The Reading Social event often, says with constant distraction from social media and lack of time due to work, she was unable to cull out time for silent reading. "Reading together is not a new phenomenon, but due to social media, real-life connections have taken a backseat," she argues. The Reading Social is a series of breakfast meet-ups for people to challenge this isolation. Here, you bring your own book, disconnect from your phone and read uninterrupted for at least two hours. What started out as a gathering of 19 readers, sees at least 90 people now, says Sandeep Malhotra, its co-founder.
"Because of social media, our attention spans have dipped. The idea [behind the initiative] was to help get that reading time back," he says. The fact that people are willing to shell out R500 (including breakfast) for an event, reveals the idea's success. Money collected from the event goes towards donating books to charities. "It has also become a great place for first-time readers to get acquainted with books," says Malhotra.
Ravi Subramanian would rather discuss his titles at small inclusive meet-ups than five-star hotel book launches
A platform for authors
Platforms like Books on Toast's weekly podcasts, run by Cuckoo Club co-owner Sharin Bhatti and writer Anuya Jakatdar, encourages such conversations. "This kind of social atmosphere aids immersive stories, and allows us authors to have deeper interactions related to books," says Amish Tripathi, author of the Shiva trilogy and Ram Chandra series.
Banker and author Ravi Subramanian says that he'd prefer to talk about his books on platforms like these, as opposed to having a book launch at a five-star hotel. "From both, the reader and author's perspective, small, focussed and well-targeted events are helpful to spread the love of books," he says.
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