Meghdutam Rangmanch organizes a literary event called Daryaganj and Open Mic on the last Sunday of every month, in Meghdutam Park. We started it as an experiment but the mere fact that we are doing it every month speaks for its popularity and also a relief that book lovers are not a diminishing species.
Open Mic is an event where we encourage kids and adults to read out a favourite passage or poetry, either self-written or by a favourite author. Mostly we witness active participation from kids but this time, on 29 September, we had considerable adult participation as well.
Anjali Tandon, from Silver Estate, narrated a story written by her on how a monkey picked up a baby and how with ‘presence of mind’ folks could rescue the child from the monkey.
We had a lovely duo Dakku and Eeku (Daksh and Ekansh), from Silver Estate society, who shared a hilarious passage on “How to understand what the dog is saying.” Both boys were having so much fun, and their enthusiasm was so infectious, that it soon spread to everybody present. The boys exhibited the true essence of Daryaganj, they picked up a book that they initially thought to be boring, browsed through it and ultimately shared a passage from the book itself.
Dr. Parul Agarwal (Windsor Greens) and Adyasha (Mahagun Manor) shared self-composed poems, “Yaadon Ke Jharokhe Se” and “That’s My Everyday Life”. We had three participants who came forward and shared their favourite quotes. Nothing could have been more heart-warming for us than to see members share with the world the lines that stayed back.
We have also started noticing regular visitors, familiar faces that we now recognize. The bond that connects us is our common love for the written word. Daryaganj acts as a trip back to memory lane, a portal through which we are transported back into an old world.
Important message for Daryaganj donors of books
All book lovers bringing books to give away in Daryaganj are requested to reach the venue at the start of the event, so other booklovers get a chance to browse and select books they wish to take away rather than simply passing them on to a library.
