JOIN USBook clubs thriving again
Bengaluru’s book clubs, some of which had curtailed their operations during the pandemic, are active again. Also, some new ones have come up since pandemic restrictions were eased. Metrolife brings you a quick guide.
Cubbon Book Club
Friends Preksha Sharma and Ankit Kumar started Cubbon Book Club in 2022. It has 3,500 followers on Twitter, 500 followers on Instagram, and a WhatsApp community of 1,200.
The club provides an opportunity, especially for new settlers, to step out and experience the city, says Preksha. This was the main objective behind starting an outdoor book club.
“As a corporate lawyer living on a crazy schedule, I couldn’t get the time to do the three things I always wanted to do — make new friends, go to Cubbon Park frequently, and read books,” she says.
The group meets once a month — usually on the last Sunday of the month — at 10.30 am, near State Central Library in Cubbon Park.
Apart from book discussions, the club also hosts interactions with authors.
With about 80 people at each meet-up, the club has been rapidly gaining popularity.
HSR Book Club
Started in 2022, the book club is a part of the HSRisHome community founded by Radhika Mohta.
“We do not restrict it to a theme. Since this is a start-up-dense neighbourhood, there is always something on startups, early stage building, and finance,” says Radhika. She co-hosts the club with Ravi Arora. The group meets on the first Sunday of the month. The club is open to bibliophiles from all localities.
“In fact, we have folks joining us from Bellandur, Koramangala, Whitefield and other parts of Bengaluru. There is no age bar, yet it is mostly people in their 20s and 30s who join us,” she says.
Book Masala
Founded by author Milan Vohra, this club has been around for 10 years. The Covid-19 lockdowns helped revive the book club, she says.
“Six to seven years into running the book club, I noticed that the interest was fizzling out. Since Bengaluru has such a mobile population, members were constantly moving out. But during the pandemic, when we temporarily moved online, there was renewed interest,” she says. The club is active on WhatsApp, and meets offline on the second Saturday of every month.
It follows the more traditional format of one book a month. “We present the group with two options, and members vote to pick the book. We try to explore various genres,” she explains.
Broke Bibliophiles Bangalore
Broke Bibliophiles Bangalore was started by friends Abhiram R and Radhika Chauhan in 2017 and has about 4,000 members.
“The group has been growing steadily year on year,” says Abhiram. In September 2022, the club launched a newsletter, and it has garnered 500 subscribers. The group meets once a month, at Bookworm on Church Street.
The Bangalore BYOB Club also meets once a month at bookstores across the city. It has been around since 2016. Shenomics, a women leadership platform, runs a women-only online book club. It’s called The Conscious Woman Book Club, and they meet once a month.
Kannada clubs
‘E Hottige’
The book club was started by
Jayalakshmi Patil in 2013 and has over 5,500 followers on Facebook. Since the pandemic, the group has been following a hybrid model with online and offline meetups.
“We discuss a book a month and the size of the meet-ups keeps changing. We have noticed that many prefer online meet-ups. Our numbers shot up during the pandemic,” says Jayalakshmi.
The aim of the club is to promote Kannada literature. “We celebrate our anniversary in February, when we hold a special event with seminars. We also host writing contests to encourage the youth to take up Kannada literature,” she says.
For details, visit E Hottige on Facebook or ehottige.wordpress.com
‘Yaav Pustaka Odtiddira?’
Launched in 2021, ‘Yaav Pustaka Odtiddira?’ (Which book are you reading?) operates mainly on the social networking site Clubhouse.
The club organises sessions every Friday evening. “While sessions are totally in Kannada, we discuss both Kannada and English literature. Each session has about 200 participants,” says Radhika Ganganna, co-founder. Apart from book discussions, the group also organises poetry and play readings.
For details, visit www.clubhouse.com/house/ಯವ- ಪಸತಕ-ಓದತದರ
Catch them here
Cubbon Book Club: @CubbonBookClub on Twitter and Instagram
HSR Book Club: @radhikamohta_ig on Instagram
Bangalore BYOB Club: @bangalorebyob on Facebook
Broke Bibliophiles Bangalore: @brokebangalore on Facebook and @BibliophilesBlr on Twitter
Book Masala: @milanvohra on Instagram
Shenomics: @shenomics_com on Instagram