Scroll To The Bottom (1/3) - A Guided Walk-through 111 Days of Bibliotherapy

  • 13 Jul, 2020

On March 22nd, 2020, life changed. For better or for worse, no one knows, but it changed for good.

"The future's uncertain and the end is always near..." ~ Jim Morrison

These prophetic words penned by the Lizard King have been ringing truer ever since. On top of this rather overwhelming prospect, any hopes of a return to the 'normal' are being dashed with every passing day.

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Stranger things also tend to happen when established world orders crumble and grand plans collapse, almost overnight.

For the first time in three-and-a-half decades, I started consuming less, creating more. For my sanity, if nothing else.

Thus, on the day my corner of the world shut down, Project Bibliotherapy was launched on Instagram with a simple mission in mind - 'To chase the blues away, one book at a time...'

And now, sixteen weeks later, this little sanity project of mine is one of the earliest inhabitants of ScrollStack - 'a place to discover thinkers and creators worth following.'

Before proceeding any further, I recommend checking out my debut post on ScrollStack - the tale of my journey as a reader, told through nine montages, nine quotes.

Already read it? Awesome. Now...

This trilogy of posts is an attempt to make some sense of this strangest of summers, through a scroll to the bottom of the Instagram feed - a guided walk through 111 days of Bibliotherapy in reverse chronological order.

Each of the chapters below contains an overview of posting activity on Instagram within a certain time-frame, along with a select few of my favourites replicated in their entirety for your reading pleasure.

Also included is a slideshow of Instagram stories shared during that time period - a mix of public service announcements, goodreads, quotable quotes and other random musings from the archives - best viewed in full screen.

So without further ado, let us go down the rabbit hole...

Chapter I

June 26th - July 10th, 2020: The One With the ScrollStack Debut...

#ScrollStack

Every single pixel in the montages featured in 'One Billion Seconds... plus a few million more...' is a potential clue for future Bibliotherapy posts -

Mostly about the books I've experienced, a few excerpts from the first draft of my work-in-progress book (working title - 'Don't Panic, Don't Try')...

...and further experiments with content creation - 'spread across a potpourri of interests and inspired by a motley of experiences from saner times.'

Basically, anything which I feel might help chase the blues away - both for the reader as well as me.

Story Archive #7

(View on Instagram --> a selection of above highlights from the story archive)

Chapter II

June 3rd - 25th, 2020: Grateful Dead, Archie Comics, Hollywood Vampires, Hunter S. Thompson, Bibliotherapy Digest on Linkedin, Lizard King, Spike Milligan, Scott Adams...

#Tsundoku #JimmyKimmelLive

'Kafka on the Shore' - No longer tsundoku...

Add to Library --> Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami

A serendipitous afternoon in Los Angeles...

Spot the Spongebob :)
Story Archive #6

(View on Instagram --> a selection of above highlights from the story archive)

Chapter III

May 16th - June 2nd, 2020: Pop Culture Publishing / Comic Con India, @scroll.to.the.bottom, Random x Mad Magazine, Bob Dylan, Bournvita Quiz Contest, @nostalgiaholix, Beatlemania, Sidharth Bhatia, Arambolla...

#42 #theEclecticBookReviews

Don't panic, and always carry a towel...

add to library --> The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
add to library --> Don't Panic: Douglas Adams & The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Neil Gaiman

An 'Eclectic Book Review'...

View this post on Instagram

#Repost @the.eclectic.book.reviews || #Delhi - Nitin. ‘Till 2017, my life trajectory followed the conventional route where I completed my professional studies and slogged in the corporate world for 7 years. Taking a break for myself was always on my mind but it was only after surviving a bad phase in ‘16, that I finally left my job and was free to travel. . My first trip was a spontaneous trek in the Himalayas with a friend, on whose recommendation I picked up #OnTheRoad by #JackKerouac . . It ended up being my companion during one of the most exciting, unexpected & fulfilling phases of my life as I explored the Himalayas on my own for 6 weeks after the trek. Though a work of fiction, the book is based on the author’s own travel experiences after recovering from a tough time, upon the arrival of a crazy friend. . With his unconventional writing, Jack, through the protagonist, takes us on multiple cross-country trips across the USA in the late ‘40s, as he traveled without a plan from New York to San Francisco, back and forth, via Chicago, Denver, even Mexico. . When I read this book, I had no grand plans for my sabbatical, but never would I have guessed it’d span 33 months! When it got too cold in the hills, I headed for a 45-day journey along the South-West coast of India, Kerala to Goa, with a few detours. . Mid-trip, Lady Luck shone on me, when entering a giveaway contest led to me winning 2 return tickets to London, enabling a 3 month Eurotrip, a pipe dream of mine. In the ensuing months, till the world shut down, I continued grabbing any travel opportunity that came my way & ended up exploring the USA, even Mexico - my swansong On The Road, just like Jack’s. . Like Mr Kerouac, I too aspire to document my experiences in the form of a novel (working title- @dont.panic.dont.try), an ongoing effort; along with @project.bibliotherapy -my initiative to help chase away the blues in these unprecedented times, one book at a time. . I’d recommend On The Road to everyone, as it’ll convince you that there has to be at least one phase in your life which you need to dedicate to doing what you want, in the face of societal expectations. Speaking from experience, it helps🙃

A post shared by Project Bibliotherapy (@project.bibliotherapy) on

add to library --> On the Road - Jack Kerouac
Story Archive #5

(View on Instagram --> a selection of above highlights from the story archive)

Thanks for scrolling to the bottom of part one of three. Here's part two...

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Edit- We have moved to Razorpay for payments within India. For readers outside India: Sign up for the Readers of 42 at a one-time fee of $50 (or ₹4200) to unlock access to the following benefits: Benefits: 1. Access to the Readers of 42 Library on Substack - readersof42.substack.com 2.Access to Global Weekly Readathons - Every Thursday in 2025, receive nudges to read 5 pieces of writing at 8:42 AM IST 3. Digital Copies of 42: The Curious Reader's Companion Volumes 1-5 - Swipe and tap to access a selection of 42 hand-picked reads, across genres, by 42 different authors in each volume + podcasts, videos, bonus links, writing prompts, and more 4. Access to The Biblio Lab - a Private Newsletter on Substack - Be the first to know about our curation, creation & community experiments and take part in them. - Nandini & Nitin

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