Book stock exchange
People in the city are spreading positivity
by sharing their favourite books with strangers.
The stack of books Harish received through
the challenge.
When Yashna Shree receives books
at work, she gets giddy with happiness — so much so that she is now the crazy
book lady at work. “The joy of receiving a book is just something else,” she
says, excited. All through last month and this, Yashna participated in a book
challenge that has gone viral on Facebook. The challenge — or as the
participants like to call it, a social experiment — is about sharing your
favourite books with strangers.
Explaining the intriguing process
of swapping books further, Yashna, a content manager at a digital agency, tells
us, “It is like a circle — you have to comment on someone’s post about the book
challenge; this confirms your participation. I did the same and then my friend
sent me the name and address details of someone else who had commented on her
post. You have to send the person your favourite book. The number of books you
will receive depends on how many participants are there on a particular post.”
Like Yashna, Harish Iyengaar too
participated in the challenge for the love of books. A digital marketer, Harish
received ten books from complete strangers this year. “It was so great to come
back home to see these books waiting for me. And the whole challenge is so
interesting. I mean, the most heartfelt thing was that some of the people sent
their own copies. Someone sent me a copy of Scott Pilgrim. It was so cool,” he
recalls.
Yashna believes that apart from
preserving book culture and promoting active reading, the challenge also
spreads the joy of gifting. “These kind of posts usually go viral during the
end of year when everyone is in the holiday spirit and joyous. The very essence
of receiving something in your mail, from someone who you do not know, someone
who has no idea who you are — this whole thing has a certain old-world charm to
it,” she elucidates.
Harish, at first, was speculative
of the challenge, “Well, to be honest, it does read like a scam of sorts — you
send just one book and receive so many in return; what a scheme! But then
again, there are always some people who cheat their way through something like
this as well,” he rolls his eyes. “They don’t send any books, but receive
many.”
While Yashna received 22 books
last year, she just received nine this year. Supriya Joshi, on the other hand,
has had a disappointing book challenge. “I love reading books, and more than
that I love gifting them. And so, this challenge seemed like a good fit for me.
However, I haven’t received even a single book as of yet. I had sent The Good
Luck of Right Now by Mathew Quick. To be fair, I didn’t really get into this
expecting to get anything in return,” she shrugs.
Yashna believes that more than giving away
books, you give a little bit of your heart away to a complete stranger. “Some
people don’t just share their favourite books — they share these little notes
and a part of themselves, which is magic in itself. This one time, I received a
book by Murakami, which had a little handwritten note on the inside that said
‘I hope this doesn’t become a second edition on your bookshelf. But if it is, I
like you more,’” Yashna giggles as she goes back to Facebook to dig out the
identity of the stranger who sent her these positive vibes.
Source
| Asian Age | 19 December 2016
Regards
Pralhad
Jadhav
Senior
Manager @ Library
Khaitan
& Co
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