Last July, Mansi Dhanraj Shetty, co-founder of One by One Design, a design and digital studio in Mumbai, decided to spend her birthday month retreating into the analog world of physical books. It was a wonderful idea, except for a logistical bummer: getting hold of the desired titles. "I contacted my trusted set of second-hand booksellers. But there was a delay in getting those books delivered due to the rains," says the 34-year-old, who is also the founder of a 'mood-based' book recommendation site called What Are You Reading Today? "What happens in the monsoon is that these booksellers are neither able to go out to get their stock nor go out to sell. Running the business then is a challenge." It's while mulling on the alternatives that she thought of Twice Told, an exhibition for Mumbai booksellers who are rendered idle during these months. "It was a very ad hoc concept at the time, but we decided to go ahead nonetheless. A few booksellers came onboard, and the exhibition was organised at CoWrks, Worli." Despite its experimental beginnings, the footfalls exceeded 400.

Now in its second edition, the event has managed to grab a lot more eyeballs, and will be held on a grander scale from July 19 to 22 at the same Worli outpost. The all-day event won't be limited to book sales alone, but will also include spoken word poetry, Jashn-E-Qalam storytelling that will celebrate the works of Bhisham Sahni and Premchand. While Premchand's birth anniversary falls on July 31, Bhisham Sahni's death anniversary falls on July 11. "We also have a literary supper, which essentially involves dining with an author, or a second-hand bookseller, and they talk about their experience over food. The dinner is usually a recreated versions of their favourite dishes from books," says Shetty. Also on offer will be translations by Delhi's Niyogi Books and Seagull Books from Kolkata.