Buying and talking about books are two of a reader’s favourite things to do, apart from reading, of course. As book clubs continue to grow, a cosy, intimate format of book events is emerging in the city. Conceptualised to create a quiet space for readers, these events are very Delhi-coded, drawing from the spirit of the traditional baithak. Think intimate gatherings, floor seating and literary discussions.
Disha says, ‘Baithaks encourage people to interact in a relaxed and informal setup. You add books, and more importantly stories in the mix and you have a recipe for a perfect meet-up’ (Pic: @karwaanheritage)
‘Reading communities thrive on healthy conversation’ Book events as a concept are a tad different from your usual Delhi hang. With quieter settings and warm lighting, connection takes over. “Book conversations and events often reflect this deep thinking, a sense of familiarity with others, and yet the openness to learning about interpretations of the material from another perspective. People in these settings are at ease, even those who may not necessarily gravitate naturally towards socialising, books presenting a great starting point for the conversations,” says Kapil Kapoor, co-founder of CMYK Bookstore.Ekta Bhandari, co-founder of Read A Kitaab, shares, “Delhi has such a rich culture of conversations around art, poetry, music, history, food and politics and books can sit beautifully at the centre of all of these. A book can become the starting point rather than the subject of the evening: you begin with a novel, and suddenly you are talking about a city, a memory, an era, an identity or something happening around you.”
“A bookish baithak doesn’t have to be a formal literary event. It can be a gathering where literature becomes the excuse to sit together, talk deeply, and stay a little longer,” Ekta Bhandari shares (AI Image)
Disha Verma, founder of Gurgaon’s Chapters Bookstore, notes, “I believe that the success of a book event depends on its effectiveness in generating conversations and encouraging open thinking. The air you create for people to open up matters a lot – whether it is a book club, author meet or any other engagement around stories. People need to feel safe in voicing their opinions and asking questions and extend the same generosity to others as well. Reading communities thrive on healthy conversation that can brew only in an unthreatening and intimate atmosphere.”‘An informal setup and books make the recipe for a perfect meet-up’ Baithaks, which were originally focused on listening to classical music, are now being reinterpreted and explored in different formats. Talking about baithaks, Sangeeta Chopra, founder of Naadyatra Baithaks, who hosts monthly music baithaks in her home in Gurgaon, shares how books have found a space in her events, “Whenever there is a session at my house, like a listening session or a discussion on music, I put out my huge collection of books on music. If people want to browse through them, they’re most welcome to. But that happens in the following session; it’s not a part of the baithak. There’s so much variety available – autobiographies, biographies of artists, people’s interpretations of certain kinds of music, and even experiences of listening to a particular raag. There are many aspects of music that you can learn and discuss through these books.”
I’d say these are baithaks not restricted to a theme. They are about ideas and questions that we think are relevant for our times and what we think about. These baithaks are like a sounding board for us to think out loud with people who have been working on those themes for a long time. We aim to make it feel like our college adda!
Eshan Sharma, founder of an independent public history collective
Envisioning a book baithak, Kapil adds, “As a space, we hope to keep giving people reasons to return to the bookstore, for books, shows, and engaging conversations. For book baithaks too, the idea should be to carefully think through and curate what kind of readers/crowd one wants for each event, and how readers might experience the conversations.” Talking about the format as an intersection of books and baithaks, Disha says, “It does sound like they are a good match. Baithaks encourage people to interact in a relaxed and informal setup. You add books, and more importantly stories in the mix and you have a recipe for a perfect meet-up.”
Bringing together authors like Arundhati Roy and Nivedita Menon, Karwaan Baithaks is creating a space for learning, thinking and discussing in Delhi (Pic: @karwaanheritage)
‘Artistes of all kinds come together, think together, and often disagree together’ Bringing together authors like Arundhati Roy and Nivedita Menon, Karwaan Baithaks is creating a space for learning, thinking and discussing in Delhi. Eshan Sharma, founder of Karwaan Heritage that holds these baithaks, says, “All baithaks and conversations in Delhi happen around books and authors. Karwaan baithaks’ idea was to go beyond books since sometimes the events focus on book launches only. We wanted to go beyond that. Our baithaks are never tied to a particular book per se. They are curated independently, where the speaker might be an author, but the conversation goes beyond. We get artistes of all kinds, filmmakers, poets, actors, performers coming together and thinking together, often disagreeing.”
Books and baithaks are almost naturally made for each other. A baithak is fundamentally about gathering, conversation, and the exchange of ideas, and that is exactly what a good book can set in motion
Ekta Bhandari, co-founder of a book club
