Shetty and Sengupta met at Juhu Reads, a silent reading community in Mumbai that Sengupta started. “I’ve always admired Harsh’s community-building vision,” she tells me, “So, when he put up a story on Instagram asking for volunteers to start Pint of View chapters across India, I didn’t hesitate to reach out. That’s how Pint of View Mumbai began,” she says of POV, which now has chapters across almost 11 cities, including Delhi, Kolkata, Pune and Jaipur.
For Ansari, speaking at a bar meant reaching a wider, more diverse audience—people that the professor wouldn’t typically encounter. “Not everyone wants or can go back to universities to learn… When you prioritise the joy of learning without the pressure,” she says, “you realise you can do it however you want.” She finds it refreshing to present her work simply for the joy of sharing it. At POV, she met people who were genuinely interested in learning.
Bringing research into social spaces like bars dissolves the hierarchies of formal education and effectively democratises knowledge (for a ticket price that can range anywhere between ₹700 to ₹1,300). Here, people are free to relax with a drink in hand, chat and order food, swap stories and learn about niche topics—from black holes to deepfakes and lunar explorations—they might never have sought out otherwise. Each lecture lasts about 45 minutes, followed by a 15-minute Q&A, and ends with a mixer.
In a time when it feels like the algorithm has flattened our interests, the enthusiasm for such an event serves as a necessary reminder that our curiosities are not lost, perhaps just muted. POV takes the anti-intellectual shrug and instead raises you a drink and an evening well spent. It reinforces the idea that entertaining new perspectives and engaging critically with subjects can be joyous, disguised as a night out with friends and strangers.
In 17th-century Britain, coffeehouses emerged as gathering spaces for academics, artists, and amateurs to discuss, debate, and investigate new ideas and forces. These were termed Penny Universities. In the same spirit, today’s third spaces—sip-and-paint nights, silent reading clubs, pottery evenings, and now POV—have cracked the code to mindful leisure. People aren’t looking to escape anymore, they’re looking to engage.
Shetty’s hope with the Mumbai chapter is to build a long-standing community—one that keeps showing up, talk after talk and shares an intellectual camaraderie. “Each city has its own charm and curiosity,” he muses, “and we want our lectures and speakers to reflect that.” Already the lectures have been wide-ranging. The first lecture in Mumbai was with Dr Rohit Manchanda, a professor of Computational Neurophysiology, covering how neuroscience affects everyday life. On November 16th, IIT-Bombay’s Dr Ravi N Banavar will chair a lecture titled ‘Geometry Gone Wild’, talking about the mathematics of movement, at The Woodside Inn, Bandra.
Shetty and Sengupta select the speakers based on nominations they receive through an open form on their social media page. Each speaker goes through a trial run to ensure the talk feels engaging and ready for a live audience. At the lecture, they encourage attendees to nominate people that may be good for this format. This way the community not only attends, it also helps shape the lectures.
The lecture itself is followed by a social mixer. Name tags reveal people’s interests, the room buzzes with spirited conversations. The space eliminates small talk entirely or at least gives it a new flavour. At one point I’m in a conversation with an architect, a product manager, and a writer. When I ask them what brought them here, the answers ranged from “to meet new people” and “to spend my Sunday doing something interesting” to “to learn about a topic I have no idea about”. Perhaps capturing why I’m there as well.
Mumbai-based management consultant Pratiksha Jena was waiting for something like POV to come to town, so much so that she volunteered to assist with the event. It reminds me of my university days,” she says, “when an interesting lecture meant heading out and having a class in the park.” Only this time, it’s with a pint in hand.
