Big library in our small town.
So many floors and wings,
We had three elevators and five stairwells.
Books were stacked by subject
Where to put a book was my call
Art or Architecture, Classics or History, Theology or Religious Studies, ask me.
One ordinary day, a new book landed on my table. Called “Female,” the cover said “non-fiction.” I put it under Gynecology.
I could not sleep that night, and the next day I moved it to Anthropology. An hour later, decided it was Genomics.
This went on. Again, again, and again. Sociology. Psychology. Earth Sciences. Then it happened.
Inspiration is always sudden, and just as I was brushing my teeth, I nearly said it aloud—“Performing Arts.”
Over breakfast, I told my wife what I was thinking. She hated it. Glinting, she said that I meant Real Estate.
I know you want to know how this ended. Well, I put it under Politics. And left it there.
Mani Rao (born 1965) India
Source: "So That You Know" (HarperCollins, 2025)
So many floors and wings,
We had three elevators and five stairwells.
Books were stacked by subject
Where to put a book was my call
Art or Architecture, Classics or History, Theology or Religious Studies, ask me.
One ordinary day, a new book landed on my table. Called “Female,” the cover said “non-fiction.” I put it under Gynecology.
I could not sleep that night, and the next day I moved it to Anthropology. An hour later, decided it was Genomics.
This went on. Again, again, and again. Sociology. Psychology. Earth Sciences. Then it happened.
Inspiration is always sudden, and just as I was brushing my teeth, I nearly said it aloud—“Performing Arts.”
Over breakfast, I told my wife what I was thinking. She hated it. Glinting, she said that I meant Real Estate.
I know you want to know how this ended. Well, I put it under Politics. And left it there.
Mani Rao (born 1965) India
Source: "So That You Know" (HarperCollins, 2025)
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