When Diya Sengupta started Juhu Reads, the first of among several other Reads chapters in Mumbai in 2023, along with Rachna Malhotra, her co-curator at the time, it was without much foresight. After a rollercoaster ride, Juhu Reads has just completed 100 sessions on April 20, a remarkable feat, that is going to be one of quite a few in the next few months.
Looking back, Sengupta, who is the only one of two co-curators still with the silent reading community in Mumbai, which was at the time, the first one in the city, has had quite a journey. From dealing with curious park officials to readers, it is one of resilience and love for books, come rain or sunshine. She shares, “Even if I was the only one reading alone, Juhu Reads always met even with a single reader, the curator.”
While there were quite a few people who came in during the early days, after their first session on May 20 in 2023, the interest waned but was revived after media coverage, it is only the serious readers who have been coming back. Even through it all, Sengupta is happy because she has been able to carve out a reading space for Mumbaikars around Juhu to visit Kaifi Azmi Park every weekend with her co-curators Shristhi Khanna, Prashant Pundir and Shishir Bangera who joined her along the way. Without them, the Mumbaikar says the community wouldn’t be able to hit a century.
Finding joy in Juhu
She explains, “Even if one is unavailable another co-curator takes over. Plus, our regular readers are always eager to step in. You see, the community has made Juhu Reads what it is today. The idea is to ensure Juhu Reads continues even if we four co-curators need to move out or step down for any reason. Someone else would then take it over. That is how we feel a community should work.” From a handful, the Juhu chapter has seen as many as many as 60 people join a single session, and that speaks for itself. So, what makes Juhu ideal for reading? Sengupta shares, “The central location of Juhu Reads makes it easily accessible from all parts of the city. Mostly, it`s the time of Juhu reads, 5-7 pm on Saturdays that make it attractive for readers. People still have Sundays to rest and relax while they can devote Saturday evenings to read.” In fact, the Mumbaikar says many readers have told her that they have revived their reading habits owing to Juhu Reads and look forward to Saturday evenings. The city chapter not only sees people from the neighbourhood but also as far as Powai and Navi Mumbai, who visit them because of their friends.
Almost two years after the first few Mumbai Reads chapters inspired by Bengaluru’s Cubbon Reads, and the global community, started, quite a few are still going strong. While some have discontinued, there are others – altogether about 15 – that exist in Mumbai, which makes it the city with the most Reads chapters, according to Cubbon Park Reads. While Juhu was the first, it soon extended to Bandra, and even one out of Borivali called SGNP, as well as Thane Reads, and even Versova Reads among others. If automatically highlight the growth of the silent reading community in the city, and people’s love for books, as it has also turned many to even start book reading clubs, at a time when Cubbon Reads had to face difficulties last December for the very same reason – reading in public spaces.
Every year, World Book and Copyright Day is observed on April 23 around the world to promote the enjoyment of books and reading. As libraries, bookstores, and bookstalls along with cafes with books, the silent reading communities are proof of the modern reading concept that not only lets people read along but also as a part of a larger community.
Dose of nature with SGNP
Having just completed their 88th session, SGNP Reads` co-curator Amanda D`Souza says it feels surreal, as they are set to complete their second anniversary on June 23. Apart from two sessions when they took a break because of the festive season, and the national park being closed, they have shown up almost every Sunday since then. While they get at least 15 readers every weekend, they can boast of as many as 47 readers coming to one session, besides the time they hosted school students that went as high as 94 readers. She explains, “It feels like it was only yesterday that we were scouting for locations where we could sit and read because SGNP is very large.”
Over time, zeroing in on a few spots that would protect them from the rain, D`Souza and her co-curator Sachin Shanbhag now alternate between three spots depending on the weather that not only let them enjoy nature at its best with the trees but also the animals around and the natural water bodies.
She further adds, “These spots allow us to read in silence without being disturbed by the picnic crowd,” she adds. With enough nature, they have been able to enjoy the ambiance of reading the outdoors. The 30-year-old city-based professional adds, “Our fair weather spot is by the Dahisar river, which flows through SGNP, which also has boating. It also has a riverbank with steps where people can sit and enjoy the scenery including black cormorants bobbing on the surface of the water. It is like a moving painting.” The other two locations with gazebos with one of them also overlooking the river — they help them during the rain and have been a constant during the last two years.
Interestingly, SGNP Reads happens to be the only Mumbai Reads chapter that is within a natural forest, as compared to the others which are in a man-made park — an aspect D`Souza feels proud about. “Since it is a national park, we always sight a lot of animals and are welcome sightings because we see the spotted deer very often, and that is something no regular garden would afford that possibility,” she shares while also adding that butterflies, monkeys and dogs are other visitors they often encounter while silently reading at SGNP. The fact that there is a water body in touch distance, reminds the Borivali resident, is also another reason that makes it unique, even as Bandra has the sea, but one that is marred by construction.
Banking on Bandra
A little before SGNP Reads started, Amie Fazulbhoy started Bandra Reads on a whim with former co-curator Anca Florescu Abraham, on May 18 in the same year, and had the sessions at the jogger’s park on Carter Road. Closing in on 100 sessions, she expresses, “It is actually a double milestone for us because not only are we reaching our 100th session, but we are also celebrating our second anniversary on June 15. We will be making it a fun five weekends to celebrate during this time with different kinds of interactive sessions, but we are yet to finalise the details.”
Even while that is being done, Fazulbhoy is happy with the way Bandra Reads, which finished its 96th session, has grown in the last two years, and she says, the easiest metric to measure that by is the number of followers on Instagram. “We used to have seven-eight people for the first few weeks, and then we went to about 12-15 people. After a lot of people including, you featured us, we saw an influx Now, it oscillates between 25-50 depending on the weather. We have also had 60-70 people on many occasions.” Such has been the case that the silent reading community in the ‘Queen of Suburbs’ sustains by itself, even if the co-curators aren’t present because there are so many people who are regulars, says the Mumbai lawyer, that they go about doing the weekly activities that not only include reading but also taking the group picture and even going for breakfast together that makes the community welcoming.
Two years later, Fazulbhoy says the way more silent reading communities have mushroomed in the city shows how the future of reading is shaping in Mumbai. She shares, “It is so nice to see that there are so many more silent reading communities that have cropped up. Every couple of months, there is a new community in Mumbai, and they tag us, and we re-share them. While some of them haven’t been able to maintain it, but that’s fine, because it is part of the process of the city finding its geographical landmarks. Like SoBo Reads was there for some time but dropped off, and then Lower Parel Reads came up. It shows that there are many takers for the concept. Many often say, I am so glad I found this community.” Interestingly, the community boasts of 50 per cent attendees who are from the neighbourhood, but others come from as far as Vikhroli, Kandivali and Dahisar too.
However, popularity comes at a price. As they grow, park authorities continue to be suspicious and hesitant, if the group becomes too loud, and that means they have to tone down their presence. On the other hand, they also chose to disband the WhatsApp group, which was started in the beginning, to protect the privacy of the readers, limiting it only to the weekly session. Today, they let it grow organically through Instagram, till then Fazulbhoy and her co-curator Abhimanyu Lodha were the anchors, but let it thrive on its own after that. “People can sit in their own groups, and we left our hold on trying to become prominent and became one of the people.” While it took some time for the transition to happen, they are now by themselves in smaller groups, that has also extended into a book club called ‘Books & Banter’, showcasing how the silent reading communities in Mumbai have grown for the love of books.