Bhubaneswar Reads Together

A silent reading movement for calm, connection, and mental wellness
Launched by The Book Turf
On October 10^th 2025

Take the Pledge: Read for Yourself, Read with Your City

This movement begins with one quiet choice: to read. We invite every individual to take the pledge to read for 20 minutes a day, for yourself, your wellbeing, and your clarity. To read with your community and your circle as often as life permits. And to read with your city once a month, in gentle solidarity.

This is not a fad. It’s a civic ritual. Done sincerely, it can strengthen families, ease anxiety, and help Bhubaneswar become a city where emotional wellness is visible, valued, and shared. Let’s build a better place one book, one hour, one reader at a time.

Why This Matters

In a noisy world, silence heals.
Reading together quietly, in homes, clinics, schools, cafés, community spaces, and offices helps reduce stress, ease anxiety, and build emotional strength.
This movement offers one of the simplest and most powerful approaches to mental wellness.
It’s screen-free, inclusive, and deeply human.

What It Is

A citywide silent reading movement where people read side by side without speaking. No loud events. No performances. Just the quiet joy of reading and gentle sharing on mental health awareness.

Each session begins with silent reading for a minimum of 20 minutes, often extending to 40–50 minutes followed by circle time for reflection. Anchors may use wellness prompts shared weekly or invite a learning partner or guest speaker to gently guide the conversation. The tone remains quiet, inclusive, and rooted in emotional care.

Who Can Join? Everyone can join in

• Individuals and families
• Schools, colleges, clinics, cafés, offices, and large corporate or manufacturing employers
• RWAs and residential communities
• Libraries, educators, and publishers (Knowledge Allies)
• Clubs, foundations, and institutions (Anchor Institutions)
• Anyone with a space or a community

Benefits

• Reduces anxiety and improves mental wellness
• Builds quiet connections across generations
• Honours your space with a placard and certificate
• Adds your presence to Bhubaneswar’s reading tracker
• Brings curated books to your doorstep through our mobile library

Our Founding Partners

Bhubaneswar Reads Together is proud to be anchored by partners who believe in emotional wellness, civic care, and the quiet power of reading.

• NHRD Bhubaneswar Chapter Our corporate engagement partner, bringing reading-led emotional wellness into workplaces. Through NHRD’s network, the movement reaches professionals, HR leaders, and organizational spaces that value reflection, dignity, and mental clarity.
• RCM Bhubaneswar Our institutional partner for student-led civic engagement and the venue for the city’s first public reading circle. RCM empowers young readers to carry the movement forward through campus circles, public events, and emotional wellness advocacy.
• Asha Wellness is our wellness partner holding the heart of the movement with gentle care for minds, hearts, and communities. By guiding Bhubaneswar Reads Together’s emotional well-being track with quiet strength, Asha Wellness is supporting students, families, and circles across the city. Through reading and reflection, safe spaces are created for mindfulness, resilience, and mental health awareness, one breath, one book at a time.
• L&D Global Our learning and leadership partner, embedding emotional wellness into professional growth. L&D Global frames reading as a tool for clarity, reflection, and inner development affirming that care-led learning belongs in every workplace journey.
• Bocca Books Our literary curation partner, bringing soulfully selected stories to every gathering. Bocca Books reminds us that books are bridges between generations, emotions, and ideas sparking dialogue, nostalgia, and pride in Bhubaneswar’s reading culture
•  The Book Turf Our founding host and movement anchor, holding every space with reverence, intention, and care. The Book Turf brings mobile libraries to communities, bookshelves to workplaces, and reading rituals to wherever they’re needed most. It selects partners with discernment, co-designs custom interventions for professionals and institutions, and embeds emotional wellness into HRM frameworks. Through CSR collaborations, it extends reading to hospitals and underserved spaces ensuring every circle is gentle, every presence dignified, and every gathering rooted in care.

Together, these partners help seed a citywide ritual of calm, dignity, and collective healing—one book, one hour, one community at a time.Subscription Plans (for Mobile Library Access)

Coming to communities that need the support soon.

Monthly Public Reading Circles

Public reading circles are vital because they transform solitary reading into a shared ritual creating visible, collective moments of calm that ripple across the city and remind us that healing can be quiet, communal, and deeply human.

Join Us for Bhubaneswar’s Monthly Silent Reading Hour

Every First Saturday & Sunday of the Month Across homes, clinics, cafés, offices, schools, and community halls

Silent reading circles, gentle sharing, and mental wellness reflections continue citywide—online and offline. Circle Anchors are invited to host one-hour sessions at a time that suits their space and community.

Suggested slots: Saturday or Sunday | 11:00 AM–12:00 Noon or 4:00 PM–5:00 PM or a time that works best for the circle.

Anchors will receive a starter kit, placard, info poster, and on boarding support. Each Circle receives a Certificate of Participation honouring their role in anchoring quiet care and civic pride. Our mental wellness activity centre at The Book Turf Library and at all requested venues will always keep the circle gentle, the presence dignified, and the care visible.

To register your Circle, share your chosen time, venue, and follow-up photos at info@thebookturf.com

Let’s keep the city reading quietly, together, every month.

Don’t Miss the Ripple

Reading silently together is changing Bhubaneswar one circle, one book at a time.
Your space could be next. Your presence matters.

Join Now

• Why Take the Pledge. Why Join the Channel. Because Bhubaneswar deserves spaces that read, reflect, and restore. Because quiet care is a civic strength—and reading is its gentlest ritual. When you take the pledge, you become part of a citywide movement that anchors emotional wellness, dignity, and intergenerational pride. When you join the channel, you stay connected to monthly prompts, circle updates, and a growing community that believes in calm, clarity, and collective care. This isn’t just about books. It’s about belonging. Let’s build a city where every corner holds space for silence, story, and shared healing.
• Take the pledge for the movement: https://forms.gle/F4YXD5iLXwncwN9DA
• Join the whatsapp channel : https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vb6l9v4KwqSOUP0CQC14
• Tag your ripple: @thebookturf | #BhubaneswarReadsTogether

How to Create Your Own Circle

Starting a Bhubaneswar Reads Together circle is simple, gentle, and deeply impactful. Whether you’re hosting in a home, clinic, café, school, office, or community hall, your space can become a quiet anchor for emotional wellness.

Steps to Start Your Circle:

1. Choose a space where 2 to 20 people can sit quietly and read together.
2. Pick a time first Saturday or Sunday of the month, 11 AM to 12 Noon or 4 PM to 5 PM, or a time that works for your circle.
3. Invite readers from your family, workplace, neighbourhood, or community.
4. Host the hour in silence, with optional gentle sharing at the end.
5. Register your circle to receive on boarding support and a digital placard to honour your space.

Circle Anchors receive:

• A digital starter kit with guidelines and sample invites
• A digital placard to display online or print (a printed poster and certificate can be collected from The Book Turf)
• Monthly updates and curated book lists
• Visibility on Bhubaneswar’s reading tracker

If your circle wishes to invite a resource person to speak on the monthly theme mental wellness, emotional literacy, or reflective leadership you’re welcome to reach out. We’ll help guide and support the session with care.

To get started:

• Respond to the invites shared via WhatsApp Channel or social media
• Or write to us at info@thebookturf.com to request on boarding support

Join the WhatsApp Channel for updates and anchor support: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vb6l9v4KwqSOUP0CQC14

Let your space become part of Bhubaneswar’s quiet revolution one book, one hour, one community.

Social Sharing Guidelines: Help Ripple the Movement

Help ripple the movement! If you’re posting about Bhubaneswar Reads Together, please tag us and use the hashtags below to help others discover the joy of silent reading.

Tag: @thebookturf (movement anchor) @asha.wellness @lnd_bhubaneswar @bocca_book_store @rcmbhubaneswar @nhrdbhubaneswar

Hashtags to use: #BhubaneswarReadsTogether #TheBookTurf #SilentReadingMovement #PauseWithPurpose #CareIsCivic #ReadingCircle #BooksAndBelonging #OdishaReads #WellnessThroughReading #CityOfReaders

Your post could inspire someone to pause. To read. To ripple. Thank you for being part of this quiet revolution

Let Bhubaneswar read. Let the silence speak, One book One hour One community.

By : kanak / Published On : 10/10/2025