Vizag Reads bringing book enthusiasts together

 Visakhapatnam: If you are in search of book-reading friends, you must visit the VMRDA Central Park every Sunday morning. You will see groups of people with books sitting on bed sheets or mats scattered over a patch of the park. For the next couple of hours, they are in the tranquil world of their own, with birds chirping around.

They all belong to Vizag Reads – a serene reading community that meets every Sunday morning in VMRDA Park. It is the Visakhapatnam chapter of Cubbon Reads in Bengaluru. There are 56 such Reads’ initiatives all over the country.

On one of the bright Sunday mornings, PG student Avinash enters the Central Park with a book and mat at 9 a.m. Placing himself under the shade of a tree, he pulls out “Bhagat Singh, Select Speeches and Writings”. With a water bottle at his side, he remains engrossed in the book for the next few hours. Next to him is another 12-year-old who is glued to her storybook.

Vizag Reads initiative has been started by Shireen, a business consultant, and Meghana Gorli, a pharma student, both inspired by the book reading culture in Bengaluru.

Says Meghana, “Within two-and-a-half months, Vizag Reads has expanded to having 40 to 45 book readers coming to VMRDA Park every Sunday. There are even families and kids.”

Vizag Reads is a weekly reading event that starts at 9 a.m. to suit Vizag’s weather. Says Shireen, “We want to start even before 9 a.m. But VMRDA Central Park opens only at 9 a.m.” Apart from books, people also come with news dailies and start reading them.

Vizag Reads does not suggest what books to read. But at 11 a.m., it asks readers to leave books on their mats, so that they can capture the Sunday’s readers' group.