It all started with a story Shweta Govind put out on Instagram in January 2024. “I just posted a text saying I’d like to begin a club for reading and arts, and was looking forward to hearing from people who would like to join me on this journey,” she remembers. The responses inspired her to organise a reading session at a native cafe, mixed with a calligraphy and artwork workshop, and the Metropolitan Readers Collective (MRC) was born.
Over a 12 months since then, the MRC has been assembly as soon as a month, totally on Fridays. “The sessions are generally of two types: one, where each member brings a book of their choice and the other is a mutual reading session where everybody reads and discusses a mutually agreed-upon book,” Shweta provides. Each session is held at a totally different cafe within the metropolis, and the periods finish with an art-making train, as a means to construct mindfulness.
Shweta Govind
| Photo Credit:
Special association
Ahead of a current session held at a newly-opened cafe, Shweta talks about what drove her to start out such an initiative.
For Shweta, who grew up in Dubai, transferring to Coimbatore for school was fairly a cultural shift. In Dubai, she remembers, she bonded with associates who shared her love for reading. Coimbatore, then again, was fairly a distinction. With little or no to match the libraries she was immersed in, discovering the identical firm proved to be a problem.
She graduated in Fashion Designing, labored for a number of trend manufacturers, and married Govind Sethunath, with whom she owns GS Furnishings within the metropolis. Over the years, Shweta was capable of join with like-minded readers. Slowly, the thought of a reading membership took form.
Shweta knew she didn’t need the MRC to be a group that began with a bang however ran out of steam in a matter of months. “Once I get someone to be a member, I try to make them stick, instead of attending a session or two and losing interest. That’s where the concept of concluding each reading session with a fun art-making exercise comes into play, as well as exploring a new cafe for each session,” she provides.
In line with her view that cultural experiences shouldn’t come with a price ticket, Shweta has made membership within the MRC freed from cost. The group has finished away with entry kinds and calendars, opting as a substitute for a casual strategy coordinated by way of WhatsApp. “But we do have some strict rules,” she provides. “Those who aren’t active are politely informed to exit the group, while their spot can be given to readers on the waiting list. I want this to be a fun unwinding session for people who love to read, which also means active engagement.”
The most gratifying a part of this journey, has been assembly people desirous to develop the behavior of reading, a lot of whom have now develop into common members. “Many readers say they feel heard, and that this is a kind of therapy, where you get to share your thoughts and reflections upon reading,” she provides.
After a 12 months of operating the MRC, Shweta feels the expertise has enriched her as nicely. “Through running these sessions, my own interests have broadened in terms of the literary genres I usually read, not to mention the exchange of ideas that take place. You walk into a session with one book, and walk out with 15 more,” she provides.
Shweta hopes to take the MRC, now in its second 12 months, to colleges and faculties, and get college students acquainted with the pleasures of reading. This, she says, is one thing she missed throughout her pupil life in Coimbatore. In a world geared in the direction of higher distraction, she sees MRC as a technique to let youthful generations uncover the hidden pleasures that lie between the pages of a e-book.
Published – May 05, 2025 04:39 pm IST
