Book lovers unite over emotional reads

Bookworms united in Lucknow at a cafe for the second chapter of Read a Kitaab’s Lucknow meetup titled Books That Made You Cry. The theme sparked a deeply emotional literary gathering, where readers opened about books, authors and stories that moved them to tears and changed the way they looked at life.Founded by Ekta Bhandari and Anurag Kothari, Read A Kitaab is an online community of readers, book lovers, writers and artists, which provides a rich ecosystem for literary engagement through book-of-the-month discussions, author meet-ups and regular sessions across India.The Lucknow session saw over 20 passionate bookworms from various walks of life connect over books, emotions and shared memories. The participants read excerpts from their most treasured books, brought along books close to their hearts and shared stories of how literature changed their lives. Shubhangi Raizada, an associate professor, who travelled from Kanpur to attend, recalled her earliest encounter with books. She shared, “My first experience of holding a book was when I saw one in my grandfather’s bag. That curiosity about something beyond textbooks opened the joy of reading for me.”Kanak Rekha Chauhan, a literary enthusiast, spoke of growing up with Eidgah, Bambi and Urdu-Hindi classics. “Books let us live in someone else’s shoes and carry their experiences with us,” she said.— Amina Ashraf