Reading groups: Parks promote silent reading groups in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: It has been over a year and a half since a group of readers started meeting at Cubbon Park to immerse themselves in books. Shruti Sah, a marketing professional, and Harsh Snehanshu, an entrepreneur, began their journey with Cubbon Reads, which now has over 500 members. Cubbon Reads, which started with seven readers gathering in the park to read books on their own, is not alone in spreading the love of reading in the city’s healthy parks. Reading communities have sprung up in several other parks. Readers, both novice and avid, gather in the parks, breathe in some fresh air, lounge in the sun with their books and exchange recommendations. Sah said that Cubbon Reads has brought back the focus on the most fundamental thing that unites all readers – the act of reading – and removed the unnecessary intellectualisation around books. “The whole idea of reading in a park is crucial for us. A park is an informal space, unlike a library, and people can relax, laze around and even sleep without any supervision, which is reminiscent of home,” Snehanshu added. HSR Reads started a little over a year ago, on a Saturday at Main Tree Park in HSR Layout. Durgesh, an avid reader and member, discovered the group on Instagram. The book club is now a growing community, adding a new definition to what it means to ‘chill’ in Bengaluru. “We come to HSR every Saturday for the session, after which we usually go out for a meal. I have made some great friendships here,” he said. Koramangala Reads started on May 12 at Wipro Park in Koramangala. It initially had 10 members and doubled in less than two months. After reading alone in the park from 8 am to 10 am, members gather to take pictures of the books they are reading, and all go out for a meal. Endodontist Dr Nandhita Murugavel, who was part of HSR Reads and joined Koramangala Reads recently, said, “The change in the park timings has been a big help as we now plan to hold the session a little later in the day, rather than at 8 am, and it also allows people to engage more with nature and relax a bit, rather than wasting time on their phones. It even gives families an opportunity to have small picnics or spend time in the park.” Omkar Bharamgunde, who is part of Koramangala Reads, started his ‘reading in the park’ journey in a similar community in Pune. “When I first tried reading books, I was very slow. When I started going to reading communities, I started reading a lot more, mainly because of the peer pressure that motivated me to read for longer. “It used to take me two months to finish a book, but now it takes me about two weeks to finish one,” he said, holding up a copy of George Orwell’s “1984.” — Sankalp S Patil