How readers become friends at this unconventional Mumbai book club

When Vidhya Thakkar conceived the book club Mumbai Bookstagram with her friend Siddhi she knew it had to be unconventional The duo started out with an aim to coalesce a mass of readers under one roof But the extraordinary factor about the club was to not just discuss books but to find lifetime companionship over common pursuits and the banality of lifeFounded in 2019 Mumbai Bookstagram is a thriving book club with regular meetups in the cityrsquos iconic book shop Title Waves in Bandra West Born in the times of Covid19 the clubrsquos bond bloomed seamlessly over digital connections Whizzkids of the club ideated quizzes contests and engaging literary games to keep the passion flowingNot your ordinary book clubThe club was conceptualised as a recreational space bound with no topical limits With the binding factor being the love for reading the members became fond of the lsquofreeflowingrsquo conversations The topics of discussion were versatile and struck those chords that touched upon the everydayness of life The club prides itself in never fixing a lsquoBook of the monthrsquo and not sticking to traditional proceedings of a book club The members find joy in curating engaging activities for the clublsquoWord Muddlersquo is one such brainchild of the club A monthlong game it involves readers to scan words out of a maze of alphabets Once they spot a word for instance lsquoreadrsquo they are in for a reading safari of books starting with each alphabet the word contains Whoever finishes the challenge first is the winner and is awarded a signed copy from the participating publishersThe book club has evolved as a family of 80 members owing to its witty ways of engaging readers As opposed to the usual drill of announcing books before a meetup this club churns out of the box initiatives to spark the readerrsquos imagination One such initiative was lsquoBook Block Trainrsquo which involved panIndian readers to write articles on their blogs or websites on select themesThe first inperson meetup of the club took place at Title Waves on May 1 in 2022 When it comes to offline meetups the caravan has travelled to multiple events including the Jaipur Literature Festival held from January 1923Diverse readers under one roofMumbai Bookstagram thrives on an eclectic mix of readers All the members of the club are Mumbaikars coming from different spheres of life A teacher from Dombivali a student from Palghar a doctor from Navi Mumbai a scientist from Malad and many more from diverse backgrounds The mix paves the way for a versatile gathering with each bringing a new flavour to the table The group has turned into a family that comes together for festivities on Diwali secret Santa gifting and books exchange activitiesThe club is a grooming space for young and selfpublished authors who wish to establish their name in the world of writing Here they find the right support from their fellow readers who share feedback and improvise their skill Along with this they discuss the deeper nuances of genres reflections of their life and professional pursuitsVidhya shares that her vision is to expand the book club with free thinking beings She aspires to create a platform for those who wish to be free and not be defined too easily Her desire is that the conversations should evolve organically from books and touch upon anything and everything under the sunWhen the club sits down to discuss they end up breezing through 56 hours of jovial conversations With topics ranging from old scriptures to old books to Bollywood there really is no lid to the everevolving agenda of the meetup Vidhya gets candid and shares that this book club has given her friends that she can rely on for lifeVidhya the voracious readerVidhya is a maverick with many feathers to her cap Along with running the book club she is a voracious reader and a reviewer who is already on her 35th book of 2023 Her target to finish lsquoone book a dayrsquo is enough to flinch the most accomplished readers At the stroke of midnight her reading adventures begin and as the dawn approaches she puts down another read from her inventoryApart from the exploits of flipping pages Vidhya is a fulltime social media strategist She works with authors brands and wellness coaches to build their digital luminosity She works with publishers as well to curate campaigns around books Some of the engaging campaigns she works on are lsquoBook Reviewrsquo sessions and authorinfluencer meetupsVidhya is big on Indian mythology romance and selfhelp books With an intention to keep her head space positive she likes to indulge in books that grow her inner sensibilities When she is undergoing a reading glum she likes to revisit books that she has read previously ldquoWhenever I feel that my day is getting heavy I pick up books that are my comfort zone It feels refreshing and soothing to go through an older readrdquoHer musings involve poetry and a newfound love for journaling She encourages her followers to jot down their thoughts as it can be a therapeutic experience In one of her most successful campaigns called ldquo30 Day Positivityrdquo the participants had to write one sentence that motivated them throughout the day The campaign gained international patronage and slowly began to echo in the global reading and writing communityOn finding her true escapadeVidhyarsquos tryst with books began in her yester years when she parted ways with a dear friend In an unspirited walk around the corner she ran into a bookshop The shop specialised in secondhand books only Call it her destiny or the play of stars the bookseller found a lost girl and decided to illuminate her path He suggested her two reads that would help her overcome the grief of losing a friendThe One You Cannot Have by Preeti ShenoyThe Secret by Rhonda ByrneThis incident got Vidhya hooked to reading and she turned into an earnest Bibliophile She kept going back to the book shop to quench her neverending appetite for reading Every second day she would finish a book and return to seek more stories and knowledge As they say a book is the best way to travel without moving she had found her escapadeIt was serendipitous for Vidhya to find her true self in the world of books As her name suggests ldquoknowledgerdquo in Hindi her affinity towards reading was a happenstance that was meant to unfold and save her from dejection Now she can always be found with a book no matter which city she is in So much so that she turned it into a campaign of reading and talking about city centric booksRapid fire round with VidhyaAinie Paperback or KindleVidhya KindleAinie Books or Movies adapted from booksVidhya BooksAinie Be a writer or a reader in futureVidhya ReaderAinie Fiction or NonfictionVidhya FictionVidhya recommendsShakuni Master of the Game by Ashutosh NadkarUrmila The Forgotten Princess by Smriti DewanShivshakti The Continuous Continuum by Anita RajaniTake a Chance on Me by Sapna BhogAlso ReadRaghu Dixit VishalShekhar and Mumbai helped me become who I am today