After two decades as a teacher, Poonam Kurani is on familiar ground. Her Sunday walks through Ganpat Patil Nagar on Link Road in Borivali West are greeted with cheers by kids who are awaiting a new adventure of stories in the narrow gully. Kurani started these sessions in April as part of the Read Aloud project. Stories from Dr Seuss, Clifford The Dog, Tinkle comics and Pratham Books are read to children with little or no access to these names. “Sundays and books are my favourite combination. I don’t want to turn it into a lecture; just spark their imagination,” she says.

A Borivali resident, 46-year-old Kurani nurtured the desire to conduct these sessions for a while, but was unsure of taking European and American stories to children from vernacular mediums. A conversation on social media led her to Heeru Bhojwani, librarian and coach with the American School of Bombay and a Liferarian, which eventually kickstarted the project.