BENGALURU: As Bengaluru continues to lose more green cover each year, Cubbon Park has become one of the last remaining oases of greenery in the midst of the bustling city. While the centrally-located park has always been the go-to destination for people wanting to relax and recharge, over the last six months, Cubbon Park has fostered a different sort of community – bibliophiles.
Founded in late 2022 by two corporate professionals, Ankit Kumar and Preksha Sharma, the Cubbon Book Club (CBC) is a growing group in the city, with over 1,500 members. Unlike others, members of CBC do not gather at cafes or libraries, rather in the serene surroundings of Cubbon Park to discuss books, attend workshops, and interact with authors and each other.
“It was Preksha’s idea. She put out a tweet about it which went viral. Then, we spoke and decided to do it together,” says Kumar, adding that the idea of reclaiming public spaces – being able to just sit and read books, chill with like-minded people was among the motivations behind the idea. “Cubbon Park is the biggest, and most centralised park here. It has Metro connectivity and it made sense to host meets here,” he adds.
Describing the club as a ‘slow community’, Kumar says it is taking a shape of its own with no rigid structure, with him and Sharma merely facilitating interactions between members. “We are a community of people who appreciate books and literature. Even within the community, a lot of people have met and formed several sub-groups related to sports, anime, movies, and writing,” he shares. “We mostly do the job of enabling people to get started with conversations through intros, mutual points of conversations etc, and things take shape.”
Like any other book club, CBC members meet at Cubbon Park once a month to take part in discussions, book swaps and to play Dungeons and Dragons. But the secret to the club’s popularity in the last six months has been their social media presence and accessibility. “Members don’t have to read particular books to attend a session. We don’t want people to be avid readers to join us. We want people with even a little interest in reading to be a part of it,” Kumar adds.
This has meant that the CBC community is full of diverse and enterprising members. “Every time people talk about their favourite books in their introductions, several others chime in and start talking about what they love. No matter how niche or genres are, you will find someone to connect with in the club,” Kumar says.