The atmosphere was tranquil, interspersed with the post-rain hum of birds in a Coimbatore park on the morning of November 11. A group of people gathered with their beloved books at their favourite spots in Bharathi Park, Sai Baba Colony in Coimbatore. The sight was an unusual one for the city, which, despite having several vasagar salai (reading clubs) that host book launches and author interactions, did not have an avenue to read books in silence until recently.
Under the trees, amidst nature, booklovers congregate to read in silence. Occasionally, they are joined by a group of art enthusiasts who paint on canvas. A regular participant of both Coimbatore Reads and Coimbatore Paints confirms that the exercise was inspired by the Cubbon Reads and Cubbon Paints initiatives in Bengaluru.
TNM joined the group on their weekly gathering on Saturday, November 11. Even though the group usually hosts their weekly meetings on Sundays between 9-11 am, on account of Deepavali, it was scheduled for Saturday this weekend. The attendance too was lower than usual due to the holiday weekend for the 20th edition of the group’s activities.
Post their silent reading session, the readers discuss the books and exchange recommendations over a cup of coffee in the nearest cafe. Coimbatore Reads was started in July by three young women — Nivetha, Akalya, and Aarthy. The first session of the group saw just nine readers. Now, the reading community has a strength of nearly 50 and the admins hope it will increase. The Coimbatore Paints group is helmed by Nandita.
Blessy Joshua, a Coimbatore resident studying in Bengaluru, thinks Coimbatore Reads will encourage readers to frequent the park on Sunday to meet like-minded people and share their tastes in books. "It was unfortunate for us Coimbatore people, that we do not have any libraries where people can find latest books both in Tamil and English. Neither are there any book cafes to hold discussions on books," she says, adding that old-fashioned book clubs and reading circles did not impress the youngsters enough to come forward and participate in them.
Sakthi, a medical student who was visiting her hometown for Deepavali, too agrees that Coimbatore Reads connects like-minded people. "I came to know about this through a friend and it's so pleasant to meet readers, interact with them, and introduce them to new books," she adds.
Sayee Saran, a project manager in a private firm, is a regular participant. Sayee who was born and brought up in Coimbatore says this is the only place in the district where people can come and read without being disturbed.
Chandini who came with the book The Covenant of Water credits Coimbatore Reads for bringing her back on the reading track. As a civil service aspirant who devours history books during the weekdays, she says she always looks forward to Sunday. "It is not only about the reading session. This is the only place where I can socialise with people with shared interests and discuss literature, authors, and poems, that is, the distractions that I want from my routine UPSC syllabus books," Chandini says.
As a growing reading community in Coimbatore, participants expect more youngsters to join the reading circles. Since its inception in July, the Instagram followers for the group’s page has steadily increased. Now, more than a thousand followers get regular updates from the social media handles of Coimbatore Reads.