LEAF AFTER LEAF AND BEYOND

A quiet resolution adopted by two friends on an Independence Day eight years ago laid the foundation of Vasipai Nesipom, a readers’ collective, which has now grown into a vibrant online community with over 92K members

- SNEHA SIVASHANMUGAM @ Salem

AS a timid boy in Porbandar, young Gandhi rarely spoke to classmates. Textbooks were once his only companions, yet he held no love for the written word beyond what was required for class — until the day he picked up a play about sacrifice. That simple story didn’t just move him; it transformed him. For a boy who used to sprint home from school to escape conversation, reading became a powerful sanctuary.

More than a century later, in the town of Mecheri near Mettur, Salem, that same quiet determination resurfaced. Two young friends took a quiet resolution on August 15, 2017: to read a few pages every single day. No excuses. The first book one of them picked up was the Tamil version of the same autobiography that chronicled Gandhi's early awakenings — The Story of My Experiments with Truth. And just like Gandhi discovered worlds beyond his immediate, familiar life —so did Kathiravan Rathinavel and his friend.

Two soon turned into four, and four quickly swelled to ten. As the circle expanded beyond single digits, the group migrated to WhatsApp to stay connected. To keep the momentum alive, they established a golden rule: every day, members had to post their name, the title of the book in hand, and the page count. Silence spoke volumes: it was a tacit admission that the pages had gone unturned. Eventually, the community outgrew the intimate confines of a chat app, and the movement found a new, larger home on Facebook.