How a silent reading movement is forging a sense of community across cities and towns in India

Many cities and towns in India are witnessing the growth of a silent reading movement. The concept is simple—pick a private spot in a designated public place during a particular time on the weekend and read.

You can join in some banter at the end of the session, engage in a lively discussion, gather for chai, or simply pose for photographs. The camaraderie part of it is incidental; but the reading is mandatory.

On a lazy Saturday morning, I headed to Cubbon Park in Bengaluru, which heralded the silent reading movement with the formation of Cubbon Reads in January 2023. The informal reading group gathers every Saturday at Cubbon Park from 9 am to 1 pm.

Several readers are scattered throughout the earmarked area sitting on mats or lying on them, engrossed in their books. I carry with me Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, and find a place on a bench. It almost seems intrusive to disturb a person with a book, even if it’s for a story.

After I breeze through 100 pages, I approach a young woman and apologise before explaining why I am there.

Shubhangi is eager to chat. “I found the page on Instagram and was quite fascinated by the concept because I was in a reading slump. Work was quite hectic and I craved a good break. I began coming to Cubbon Reads on Saturdays and love starting my weekend amidst nature and a good book,” she says.

A few feet away from Shubhangi, Mohammed is lying down on a mat and reading Khaled Hosseini’s tearjerker, A Thousand Splendid Suns. Mohammed, who moved to Bengaluru from Chennai recently, says the “pleasant weather” draws him to Cubbon Reads every Saturday. 

This is what the silent reading movement is all about. Shruti Sah and Harsh Snehanshu started Cubbon Reads. “We wanted to build a community of readers that read their own books together, not discuss or dissect one book together,” says Sah.

Sah and Snehanshu used to cycle to Cubbon Park and read for a few hours for the whole of December 2022. They would sit next to the giant Peepal tree, with its long inviting branches in the fenced area next to the Mark Cubbon statue. The experience of lounging on the grass under the canopy of trees felt immensely comfortable and nostalgic about their childhood homes in smaller towns. 

They shared their Saturday ritual on their personal Instagram profile and it caught interest from reader friends who wanted to join in. This motivated them to create an Instagram handle titled, "Cubbon Reads", for others to come and read together in silence with them. 

The first Cubbon Reads happened unofficially on January 7, 2023, with only Snehanshu and Sah in attendance.

Unlike traditional book clubs, the founders wanted to bring the focus back on the basic thing that unites all readers—the act of reading and removing the needless intellectualisation surrounding books. Cubbon Reads has so far hosted over 85 editions, without missing a single Saturday.

Uniting readers everywhere

On the following Sunday at 4 pm, I am at Kunnara Park in Kochi, overlooking the backwaters. Amidst the usual Sunday hustle of casual walkers, playing children, the hum of the Kochi Metro overhead, I plonk down on the stairs leading to an open stage to continue dissecting Eleanor Oliphant’s personality.

Kochi Reads, started last year, is an offshoot of the Cubbon Reads concept. Shruti says they are often approached by people in other cities about wanting to start a silent reading chapter. So, they share their playbook openly on social media to help them through the process with initial content and guidelines. They are also available for any help or ideas they want to share. 

Athul, a curator at Kochi Reads, says, the crowd at Kochi Reads is a mix of the shy, introverted types, and those who can hold lengthy conversations on books. Aarti, a young HR professional, falls into the second category, and before long our conversation has encompassed more than just books. Siddharth, a student, speaks of his fascination for Greek mythology. 

Similarly, Ridwan Ul Haq, who returned to Srinagar after spending eight years in Bengaluru, felt a “void” during weekends. 

“I read a lot, but I missed having a community to share that with. I learned about Cubbon Reads through friends and was inspired. Harsh and Shruti helped me bring the idea of Srinagar Reads to life,” he says.

Srinagar Reads meets every Saturday at 4 pm in Sher-i-Kashmir Park opposite the General Post Office in Srinagar. 

Joggers’ Park, a seashore park with walking and jogging tracks in Bandra West, Mumbai, sees avid readers between 8 am and 10 am on Sundays. 

For Abhimanyu Lodha and co-curators of Bandra Reads, reading in public places has been an activity they have always enjoyed. 

“Even before Bandra Reads, we used to read in public spaces often. The idea behind Bandra Reads was to make the solitary activity of reading a community initiative and also make it a regular habit,” Lodha says. It sees around 25-40 people every week.

Enveloped by a spirit of community

Tarun, a regular at Bandra Reads, says it’s a great way to start Sunday mornings and be part of a community spirit.

A student of screenwriting, he says, “It’s meditative to sit in a group, 

where all of us are silently reading. It's like a breath of fresh air in the high paced city life. Surrounded by the sea, the location couldn't have been better.”

Ritika Chawla, an independent social researcher and writer, vividly recalls the first edition of Lodhi Reads, which surprisingly was held on a Monday, on the Labour Day last year with a small turnout of nine people.

“It was drizzling and so we read inside the Bada Gumbad and also outside on the lawns. Since then, it has expanded and we have had 70 editions so far, and have an average attendance of 50-70 people for each session,” she says.

The curator of Lodhi Reads reveals that books and literature helped her make sense of the world, and it’s been both a refuge and an escape. When Harsh from Cubbon Reads was visiting, she met him at Lodhi Gardens and decided to start this new chapter.

Rini started attending Lodhi Reads last October after hearing about it from a fellow reader and friend. She stays on Lodhi Road and thought exploring something practically happening next door would be a good idea. 

“I kept going back, to be around people who share a common interest . People are talking to each other, children playing, photoshoots, dogs running around and sitting with the readers. You can choose to spend time reading and looking at what’s unfolding around you. There’s a sense of calm and community that allows you to partake in the way you want to,” she says.

In Chennai, its chapter of silent reading, Bessy Reads, started at Edward Elliot’s Beach, known as Bessy Beach. Recently, the chapter moved to the Thiruvanmiyur Beach, a tranquil and cleaner beach in the city and meets every Sunday morning.

Beyond the parks and beaches

While the movement may have started on a silent reading premise, a lot of people find common ground at these reading chapters in India’s cities and towns.

Kruthika, a curator of Bessy Reads, says, people who attend regularly play for some time at the beach before heading out for breakfast.

“We conduct meet and greets exclusively to talk about books. We also organised an open mic session as part of our first-year anniversary celebrations. We also conduct book exchanges,” she says.

At Kochi Reads, the end of each session is intellectually stimulating. Everyone gathers to speak about the book they are reading. At the session I attended, the authors discussed were diverse–from KR Meera, MT Vasudevan Nair, Elif Shifak, and Descartes to Michelle Obama.

Sah says, being a forerunner in the silent reading movement in India, Cubbon Reads also caught the attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who tweeted about it in June last year. 

“Last year, a district magistrate from Sikkim visited Cubbon Reads to understand how silent reading sessions are conducted and she replicated the format across several districts there for school students,” Sah says.

It has also led to the birth of sub-communities by attendees within Cubbon Reads, built on the same ethos of silence, and includes Cubbon Paints, Cubbon Folds, Cubbon Knits, and Cubbon Writes. 

It also inspired the curators to launch a social dating app Bookmark for book lovers in February this year. It has over 7,000 downloads so far. 

“We wish to see them happen across more cities in India, in all possible public spaces like parks, meadows in the hills, beaches, monuments, open libraries. Wherever possible we would love to join hands with corporate brands and even governmental institutions to host such community meetups to their offices and owned spaces. And inevitably, make public spaces feel more welcoming, hospitable, and safer,” Sah adds.

If you enjoy reading and want to also be one with nature, just pick up a book and head to a silent reading chapter in your city or town this weekend. There’s silence, and there’s conversation. The choice is yours!