Reading quietly in a park has gone viral, thanks to Indian Instagram page Cubbon Reads – now there are chapters across the world
- Two friends in Bangalore, India, have taken something they love doing – reading quietly in a park – and made a global community with 70 ‘affiliate chapters’
- Cubbon Reads makes participants ‘feel like a part of a community without being forced to socialise’ and gives them ‘the space to just read or not’
On a cloudy Saturday morning in late June, a strange sight greets visitors to Bangalore’s central Cubbon Park: in one section, hundreds of people sit, sprawl, loll, lounge on colourful sheets or on the lush grass, books in their hands.
Gusts of wind sweep through the thick tree cover. Rustling leaves, bird calls and the occasional yelp from a child or pet are the only sounds in an otherwise tranquil setting in India’s tech capital.
Monsoon rains, which usually arrive in India during the first week of June, are worryingly late. A mild shower a few days earlier has washed everything clean, but left no lingering dampness. A faint, sappy smell rises from crushed grass and hangs in the air.
The scene is set for Cubbon Reads, a community reading initiative.
Around me are hundreds of strangers: solo readers, duos and trios on a single sheet, groups of friends, families, some with pets – all united in a love of reading and the outdoors. Any conversations are whispered. There is a sense of comfort and camaraderie.
