Meet like-minded Mumbaikars at this Bandra bookstore to dive into literary fun

During the recently concluded The Neighbourhood Festival, the Bandra-based bookstore, Fictionary, had opened a literary lounge. "It was an event between events. We wanted to create a space for readers to socialise," says Sabina Pendhari, the bookstore's marketing manager. The lit lounge at the festival was a platform consisting of games and prompts that could get readers to break the ice and get to know each other. "We didn't think much about it at the time, but it ended up doing well," she reveals.

Following the success of the festival edition, the bookstore's first official bi-monthly edition of the lounge will take place this evening. Anup Nair, founder of the bookstore, tells us, "Twice a month, we want to get together to have fun, play games, chat about books, and make new friends." The space will be moderated by Pendhari and Urja Panchal from the team. For the upcoming edition, the duo shares, "We're planning a book bingo as an introductory activity. We feel it'll be a nice conversation starter to avoid the initial awkwardness between people. We're also going to have a Story Wall." This is akin to the well-known spinning-the-yarn writing activity, where a participant begins the story with a sentence, and the others get a turn each to add a sentence, and take the story to the finish line.