On this Sunday, read. Courtesy, Silent Book Club. In these webinar congested days, this is a zoom call which has only one agenda: to get you to whip out a book, settle in comfortably and follow through.
“Even if I can get two people to start reading again, I will be happy,’’ says Rachna Kalra, founder of Delhi and NCR chapter of Silent Book Club. Kalra, who has spent years in publishing and marketing books, is passionate about reading and equally obsessed with getting people to read. In Silent Book Club, she found the perfect solution.
“There is no agenda,’’ she says. “All you need to do is bring a book. It doesn’t matter what genre. You can read an e-book, even on your phone, as long as you turn the calls off.”
The session, which lasts two hours—you need some time to settle down—allows you to reconnect with reading. “There is no pressure,’’ she says. “You don’t have to have a conversation.”
“People who love reading often don’t find the time to do. People sometimes don’t want to engage in a formal place. It is to build a relationship with books again,’’ she says.
The last session of Silent Book Club was to be held before the lockdown. “We meet in places that lend themselves to reading,’’ says Kalra—away from home, where the pressures of daily life often intrude into uninterrupted reading time. Kalra, as she puts it, provides the “ambiance for you to read.” In the few months that Kalra has started it, book lovers have met at a speakeasy bar, Sidecar—which opened its doors earlier than usual to allow readers to meet and even offered a discount—to Sundar Nursery in winter, where the session ended with chai and samosas.
This time, however, Silent Book Club, will not live up to its name. The meeting will encourage people to speak, not read. The club is adapting to a virus-infected virtual world. “After a short round of introductions, people will be encouraged to talk about the book they have chosen and why,’’ she says. “Also, whether they have been reading during this time and whether their reading has changed.’’
In the end, however, Kalra, who has marketed books for a living, will extract a promise—of solo reading for 30 minutes. So, if you want to commit, join Silent Book Club Delhi & NCR on Facebook.
