Read amidst nature at Borivali's Sanjay Gandhi National Park

Members of the community read quietly at a previous session

Over a recent phone call, 28-year-old copywriter Amanda D'Souza paints us the picture of a quiet group-reading session at Borivali's Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP). "Reading in the rain makes the experience more, if I may use this word, romantic," she shares. The sense of romance is precisely why she decided to launch the Borivali chapter of these sessions titled SGNP Reads during the monsoons.

It follows the chapters of Bandra Reads and South Bombay Reads that also began three weeks back. These silent reading groups are different from book clubs where people gather to read a single title and discuss it later. To start, the material is not limited. Readers can bring along comic books, research papers, or even shampoo bottles if it catches their fancy. Then, all they need to do is find a seat amongst the group and read in silence.

Amanda D'Souza and Sachin Shanbhag

D'Souza shares that the first of these sessions, which began in January this year at Cubbon Park in Bengaluru, inspired readers across cities including Kolkata, Delhi, Pune and Chennai before it reached Mumbai. The practice has gone international with associated chapters in London, Malaysia, and Toronto. The Bengaluru-based group shares a readied list of guidelines for anyone looking to follow suit.

A month after the launch of Juhu Reads and Thane Reads, Borivali residents D'Souza and co-curator Sachin Shanbhag, the vice-president of insights and visualisation (data office), Tata AIG General Insurance Company, put out their first call to gather at SGNP on June 25.

Coming back to the romantic outdoor setting, have the rains interrupted sessions? "We have scoped out spots for reading. We have had a few monsoon sessions at the playground zone [close to the main entrance] and the picnic zone that have coverings. When the rains stop, we head to a garden adjacent to the toy train station or Gandhi tekdi, which are good summer reading spots."

D'Souza settled on the idea of quiet and solitary group reading sessions, noting, "It takes the pressure off from having to engage in a social activity. Here, you can silently read for two hours; you can arrive and leave at will, and speak with other readers after the session only if you feel like it." She continues that for readers who might want to minimise distractions, these sessions offer an enjoyable and solitary ambience with a motivating community session. "Some readers shared about struggling with distractions when reading alone, and how it helps them to read quietly in the company of others," D'Souza concludes.

On: Every Sunday, 11 am to 1 pm
At: Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Borivali East
Log on to: @sgnpreads