While typical weekends in the city often involve brunch reservations, beach walks or battling traffic, a new routine is quietly growing. Across cafés and cozy corners of Chennai, people are simply gathering to read together. There is no pressure to network, make small talk, or try to impress anyone. Instead, it is just about sharing a love for stories, which often helps strangers become friends. Ahead of Reading Day, we caught up with four local reading groups to see why these simple book gatherings are becoming so popular.
Keeping a Literary Legacy Alive
Long before Instagram reading circles and silent reading meets became popular, the Madras Book Club was creating a space for the city’s bibliophiles. Its roots go back to informal gatherings in the 1990s when it was led by the late historian S Muthiah and fellow publishers. Trustee Jayanthi Ramesh says the club was born at a time when “there weren’t too many other options for book-lovers to meet and chat and cogitate”. Years later, she believes the club continues to serve as “the city’s connect to books and to a community of readers”. “Just come over, listen and participate as much as you want… or not. You are welcome either way,” she says.
Books, Banter and... Food!
For Deepika Nagasamy, founder of Books and Babes, the club was born almost accidentally. “It started as a random Facebook post when one person was looking to restart reading, and it grew to many more friends coming together asking for the same thing.” The community has become a judgement-free zone for people trying to rediscover a habit they lost somewhere between deadlines and adulthood. Meetings may begin with books, but they rarely end there. “We wait to catch up and talk about books, then move on to food, movies and life in general, too. It’s just a bunch of friends catching up at the end of the day,” is how Deepika describes it all. And when it comes to literary debates? “Half the club hates romantasy and the other half loves them, but we still read them because we are supportive of everyone’s choices,” she shares.
Making friends as an adult is harder than people admit. A reading community takes away the awkwardness because you already have something to talk about. Some of the people I've met through book meets have become close friends – Siddarth, PG student.
Where Readers Come to Disagree
If most book clubs are about discussions, The Love Lit Society turns them into an event. Founder Radhika Nathany says members gather for courtroom-style debates where books and even fictional characters are defended or prosecuted. “People arrive looking for books and end up finding people. We’ve had members tell us, ‘This community felt like coming home after so long,’” she notes. For Radhika, the appeal lies in the freedom to disagree. One of the club’s most memorable discussions centered around The Phantom of the Opera, splitting the room between those who adored it and those who didn’t. “There isn’t one correct way to experience a book,” she says, adding that Chennai readers are becoming increasingly comfortable saying, “I know this is a classic, but I didn’t like it.”
Finding Comfort in Shared Silence
For architect and founder Rajani Sashikanth, The Quiet Chapter began from a deeply personal place. “Life is noisy and constantly busy. At some point, I realized that I had lost the ability to sit with a book without guilt or distraction,” she recalls. What started with a handful of friends in October 2024 has now become a quiet Sunday ritual for readers aged above 20. “People come by themselves, for themselves, but together,” she says, describing a community where there are “no reading lists, no book discussions, and no expectation that you have to finish a certain number of books”. Perhaps the best example of the friendships it has fostered is a member who moved abroad. “He has since moved to Estonia, but he still keeps in touch with us every Sunday. We often end up video calling him during a reading session,” says Rajani.
Written By: Aashna Reddy
