The Living Archive • 49 Gatherings
One entry per gathering: what we read, who read it aloud, what the argument was about, and how late we stayed.
“Six people, a borrowed living room, chocolates, and one rule: read aloud. Nobody left on time.”
“Rajesh Ji was the first to arrive. Nirali, the moderator began with rules. Chocolates were given to the first two guests.”
“A cozy gathering with warm tea and passages that turned strangers into fast friends.”
“I'm an introvert and I've never been to any social thing since school by my own, so this is kinda my first…”
“So, this is the first session of 2023... We added some candles this time, to make it romantic. The narrator picked up…”
“Two empty cups of imaginary tea standing regal on their saucers. Only a spoon was added for her character’s flirty amusements.”
“Mitesh began reading about King Yuvanashva, who accidentally drank the fertility potion meant for his wife.”
“A sunny March afternoon filled with book discussions, laughter, and warm tea.”
“‘Everyone in this room will someday be dead.’ — Aishwarya. ‘Hear, Hear!’ — said Everyone.”
““Look inside yourself Simba, you are more than what you have become” - Mufasa, The Lion King. This is the last edition…”
““I don’t know if they lived happily ever after. But they lived and they were happy.” — Stephen King, The Dark Tower.”
“Phase II began with Edition 11, a lot of new readers, we were excited! New roles created... Congratulations Raxil, Sandeep! It is…”
“Propped up in the middle on bean bags facing each other under calming warm yellow lights, reading from Vidhu Vinod Chopra's 'Unscripted'.”
“Bhavita read The Journey Home by Radhanath Swami... “One quiet night while sitting under a banyan tree...””
““इंतज़ार करते हैं आदमी कोई पढ़े उनको ! लिखते हैं किताबें आदमी। करती हैं किताबें इंतज़ार पढ़े जाने का।” — प्रयाग शुक्ल”
““The time which we have at our disposal everyday is elastic; the passions that we feel expand it, those that we inspire…”
““Minutes of our book club meetings are as essential as the extra cookie at tea time - they hold the secret to…”
““REENA JI IS AWESOME!” She got cupcakes for us all. PDBC is adulting like a responsible sober grown up. Enter Sandeep Ji…”
““If the immediate and direct purpose of our life is not suffering then our existence is the most ill-adapted to its purpose…”
““Zindagi ka kaam hai Uljhana and aadmi ka kaam hai Suljhana.” A night of candles, cake, friendship bands, and sitting by the…”
““Twenty years was yesterday, and yesterday was just earlier this morning, and morning seemed light-years away.” — Call Me By Your Name”
“‘Hair the color of lemons,’ Rudy read. His fingers touched the words. “You told him about me?” — The Book Thief”
“Sharvil began in his deep, therapeutic voice reading from Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore...”
“Ruchi & Mitesh swung by with a screwdriver and energy to put together the third bookshelf. Yogesh Ji was just looking like…”
“A momentous occasion lay before us, the 25th Edition! An extraordinary memory had to be conjured up, befitting of this jubilee.”
“Prashant read a small part of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy about this beautiful universe...”
“Winter warmth in Ahmedabad, holiday memories, and cozying up with classic novels on Christmas Eve.”
“Opening the new year with fresh resolutions, thick anthologies, and lively character readings.”
““...that relationships are not sustained by violence but by love. Love is a creative act. When you love someone, you create a…”
“30 gatherings of stories, arguments, and cherished company.”
“Shaurya starts the session by distributing secret tickets to outer space (postcards!). Prince brought 'Just Checking' by Emily Colas, a book about…”
“Yogesh Ji taking us to the coast of Lisbon, as he reads Warrior of the Light by Paulo Coelho, serenaded by Portuguese…”
“Deviating from tradition and familiarity, this edition relied on throwing people into the deep end. People knew only genres, no specific titles.”
““सच बोलूं तो मैं कभी लिखता ही नहीं कुछ... नाम मितेश है। PDBC में एक रीडर की तरह काफी लम्बे समय से…”
“Theme: 'Something light'. Irony: All the books wore dark shades, sitting shadily, waiting for their turn to haunt and shock!”
““ये शाम कुछ अलग थी, इसमें एक जवान हो चुके बच्चे के टूटे सपनों का दर्द था। वो वापस से वही गया,…”
““Dearest Gentle Readers... ‘So many books, so little time’ is a thought which has plagued members on more than one occasion. In…”
““Abhiraj ko dekh ke lagta hai vo Priyadarshan saab ki Hera Pheri movie ka Shyam hai... Started with a question: What is…”
““Bharath was wearing a white shirt, blue jeans, a kada in hand, shaped beard and well-behaving hair... Ready to enter a bank…”
“Wholeheartedly dedicated to rain, gajra, and two women holding their sarees through single safety-pins drenched under the rain, battling with the mud!”
“Kicked off with a special crossword challenge, which initially left everyone scrambling to figure out book clues. Rohan started consulting the PDBC…”
““Today at 14:55 on 22nd Sept, I, Prashant, shall start writing MOM, which will not be filtered by Meghna... Is this Prashant…”
“The comic book/graphic reading edition had a lot of new things... Shaktiman plays in the background. An evening starting with spice, coolers,…”
“Keyur read The Last Song by Salman Rushdie. Set in Spain, the story follows an old man searching for his mother’s paintings…”
““Grab a cup of hot chocolate... The event kicked off with an attack on bookmarks (I snagged a black cat one—it sums…”
“Agenda: Read aloud and feel emotions. Chirag, our book evangelist, passionately tried to convince people (particularly Aneree) to donate books!”
“Srijan short story read aloud: Guleri belongs to a village called Chambe, married to Manak. Every year all the girls from the…”
“In book club edition 48, each attendee described themselves as a colour. Samir (Mr Orange) read Aghori: An Untold Story by Mayur…”
““LUMOS MAXIMA! A thousand years or more ago when I was newly sewn, there lived four wizards of renown... bold Gryffindor, fair…”