Kashmir Readers Join us
A reading community based in Kashmir

Where stories bring people together.

Every Sunday, a circle forms under a chinar or in someone's living room — books open, tea passes hand to hand, and a conversation that started as one small idea keeps going, session after session.

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63+
Reading sessions held, and counting
3,200+
Readers following along
1
Circle, open to anyone curious

One small idea, a few curious readers.

Kashmir Readers started the way most good conversations do — informally, without a plan for what it would become. A handful of people who liked books started meeting to talk about what they were reading. No syllabus, no membership fee, just a shared willingness to show up.

"And no clue what was coming next — somehow, that turned into one whole year of Kashmir Readers."

What's grown since is a loose, living community around books, poetry, literature and culture — spilling out of living rooms and into parks, gardens and courtyards across the valley. Sessions happen most Sundays. Anyone who reads, or wants to, is welcome to pull up a chair — or a patch of grass.

The Baithak — an unhurried, seated gathering. It's how nearly every Kashmir Readers session begins.

What happens inside the circle

Seven threads run through the community — you'll find all of them, in some form, at nearly every gathering.

01

Sessions

Weekly-ish meetups where a chosen book, essay or poem anchors an open conversation — no assigned reading is mandatory to join in.

02

Reviews

Members share honest, unpolished takes on what they've just finished — the good, the disappointing, and everything between.

03

Launches

Space for local writers and poets to introduce new work to a room of people who'll actually read it.

04

Milestones

Marking the anniversaries, the 25th session, the 63rd — small counters that show the circle is still going.

05

Reads

The running, ever-changing list of what the community is currently making its way through, book by book.

06

Baithak

The seated, unhurried gathering format itself — outdoors when the weather allows, indoors when it doesn't.

07

Events

Occasional larger gatherings — collaborations with other clubs, themed reading days, open mic evenings.

Moments from the circle

A few scenes from the seasons of meetups — under willows, on courtyard steps, wherever there's room to sit.

Sunday session, under the chinar
The wall of first sessions, framed
Open ground, open books
63 sessions, still turning pages
This week's stack, headed for the TBR
Baithak, mid-conversation

Come sit with us this Sunday.

No reading list to catch up on, no dues, no formal sign-up. Message the group, find out where the week's session is happening, and bring whatever you're currently reading — or nothing at all.

Most Sundays · Location shared weekly

Join the WhatsApp group

This is where sessions get planned and shared — the fastest way to find out where the circle is meeting next.

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