Social media initiative that helps city's book lovers share their love for books

John Green in The Fault in Our Stars says There are some books which you cant tell people about books so special and rare and yours that advertising your affection feels like a betrayal The Palace of Illusions is that book for me Until today I had never spoken about it to anyone because I wanted it to just be mine It left me in tears and will always be close to my heart Im finally okay with sharing my love for this book because I think everyone deserves some magic in their life and this one brings just that writes actor Ayesha Kaduskar in her reflection on why the 2008 novel by awardwinning writer and poet Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is special to herAyesha Kaduskar PicsThestorytold on FacebookHer smiling picture with a prized copy of the novel alongside the writeup is among 40 other such deeply personal accounts that book lovers from Mumbai Delhi Kolkata Pune Chennai London and New York have shared on The Story Told Started a little over a month ago by Shreemayee Das and Rohan Desai the page already has over 1300 followers on Instagram and 600 plus followers on FacebookUrooj AshfaqI studied English literature in college and love reading books When I came to Mumbai in 2015 I couldnt find many people to discuss what I was reading and that really bothered me says Das The 24yearold from Kolkata who has recently completed her postgraduate studies in journalism and does standup comedy alongside first turned to the bibliophiles in her friends circle asking them to send their picture with a tome they treasure and a writeup on what it means to them The idea was to have a HumansofNewYork feel to the page explains Das whose initial goal was to be able to post one such picture story every day for 30 daysAditya MalikThe word spread and regular emails from unknown book lovers meant Dass hunt for stories became easier While some writeups were beautifully framed for others we had to reach out to the senders to help us with more details says Das adding that they refrain from adding plot summaries or character analyses to keep the tone personalRohan Desai and Shreemayee DasI chose to talk about The Princess Diaries because the series was a part of my formative years I liked how its characters have depth and that the female protagonist is funny and kind shares standup comedian Urooj Ashfaq who also turns to The Story Told to get inspired to finish a book When I see other nice unknown souls read voraciously I find my motivation she addsFor Kaduskar talking about The Palace of Illusions was cathartic When you tell someone what you like about a book and how it makes you feel you go through the same emotions that you felt when you read that book she says Apart from having come across fellow book lovers through her platform Das has also found relief on another front I suffer from depression So having that aim of posting one story every day really helps me with my mental health she sharesThis week onwards the page has also started featuring what Das calls ShelfStory where contributors share pictures of their bookshelves and talk about how they built their collection The founders also plan to start bookthemed videos Though we would love to have offline meets or even open mics where people share these stories in person for now we are focussing on the digital medium says DasWhat do initiatives like these mean in times when iconic bookstores are closing down and the reading habit is dying Nowadays when you tell people that you want to start a book club most of them are not interested because unfortunately they dont read as much anymore Libraries too are becoming hard to come by laments Kaduskar Digital platforms have a wide reach I hope the page reaches many people so they realise what a great experience it is to fall in love with books After all it is the best kind of loveLog on to thestorytold on Instagram FacebookcomthestorytoldCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates