Athulya Vachinathan has always had the book bug and it’s something she’s integrated into her professional life, working at publishing house. Now she’s picked up on global movement Book Fairies and has brought its infectiousness to Hyderabad in early July.
Impact of the Fairies
It started when a friend of hers in Bangalore, where the movement is popular, enlightened her about Book Fairies. It then struck her that Hyderabad would receive the book sharing platform with open arms, and she’s already done five or six drops. “I thought, ‘hey, I have all the time in the world, why not?’ There are book clubs and the infamous steal deals at Amazon and Flipkart. I don’t know of any other book-sharing community in Hyderabad where you show up and leave or take a book. In a way, this is the first time a book movement of a potentially large scale is coming to Hyderabad.”
Athulya calls Book Fairies the proverbial icing on the cake, saying it has supplemented her life working in publishing.
Being witness to this exciting epidemic in the city has been a real joy for her, “People are waking up to it on Instagram, getting in touch, expressing interest and sharing the books they’ve liked. Plus, being able to share my love for books and watching people pick up the books and find the note inside explaining the concept made me really happy. Earlier this week, I did a drop at a café in Banjara Hills and a couple of people were fascinated and asked a lot about it. Then they posted about the book they picked up on social media, calling it a pre-birthday gift from the universe.”
Athulya notes that fiction is the most popular for drops, explaining, “There are popular titles such as A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini and The Wandering Falcon by Jamil Ahmad. But we’d also like to introduce new titles and genres to people. In England, Book Fairies are a source of recommendation for books whom people approach. I’ve also heard of authors, both budding and established, sometimes get in touch to share their books with a new audience.”
First chapter
There are currently 5000 Fairies across the world in 100 countries— a considerable growth since its origin in March of this year when Cordelia Oxley created this extension from her London-based operation Books On The Underground. Actress and famous bookworm Emma Watson popularised the movement; her book club Our Shared Shelf occasionally collaborates with Book Fairies and followers can see her leaving books around cities for people to find.
As the only Book Fairy in Hyderabad so far, Athulya’s keen to reignite the city’s love for reading through this innovatively organic initiative. There’s a charm about the anonymity of these exchanges and she encourages as many people to become Fairies, adding “If you don’t want to become a Fairy, you can always donate books to me and still contribute.” The great thing is also the ease it takes to become a Book Fairy: visit the website, purchase Book Fairy stickers and get in touch with me so we can move forward with more drops.”
So look around Hyderabad for Book Fairies drops marked with the trademark green ribbon and sticker and with an enclosed heart-warming note that will surely inspire.
Book Fairies Hyderabad
Website:ibelieveinbookfairies.com
Instagram:bookfairies_hyderabad
Facebook:/thebookfairiesindia