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.