17 June,2024 09:10 AM IST | Mumbai | Shriram Iyengar
A reader browses through a book picked up from Dexy, the repurposed double bass. Pic Courtesy/Instagram; (right) Bibliophiles check out the collection at the opening event in May
Reading well is one of the great pleasures that solitude can afford you, said the great critic Harold Bloom. In May this year, the NCPA teamed up with the global non-profit organisation of The Little Free Library to create a community space for book lovers across the city. This weekend, the community will come together for a book-exchange and reading session that will also feature the Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI) string quartet live in performance.
"The initiative began as an effort to open up the campus to the reading community in the city," Aishwarya Bodke, spokesperson and one of the organisers for the weekend session shares. The event will be open to adults and young readers above the age of six years, allowing them to bring a book to exchange with a book at The Little Free Library.
For those in the know, the library at NCPA is named Dexy, and is crafted from a double bass donated by the SOI. "It is unique since most Little Free Libraries are stationary," admits Natasha Desouza, executive, marketing, NCPA. "And since we have such a vast campus, it was only right that we use it well," she adds. The SOI connection is elevated further as the book exchange session will be followed by a performance by the orchestra's string quartet serenading the audience with light classical compositions.
Tata Theatre's Elevator Block by the sea, with its carved ornate doors that open onto the balcony overlooking the portico entrance, will act as the venue for this session. Bodke reveals, "Among the centrepieces [of the space] are the high ceiling and four antique crystal chandeliers donated by Sir Dinshaw Maneckji Petit, third Baronet."
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For Desouza, the occasion marks the second step in the initiative's progression. "This is our second session, and is an opportunity to engage younger readers, and offer them a vibrant space and culture," she notes.
ON June 22; 5 pm
AT Tata Elevator Block, NCPA, Nariman Point.
LOG ON TO in.bookmyshow.com
Entry first come first serve basis (registration mandatory)
FREE
