Twitter’s magic brought this article on my timeline and I was fascinated.

I see the point of order as an independent grown-up because it makes life in the outside world easier. Especially when dealing with red-tape issues or in general trying to navigate life sometimes.

But in the context of books and arranging them, I have never felt the need. I have a lot of books. More books than clothes and other things. Proof is a recent apartment move, that made me borrow bags from friends and family alike. What for? To stack books in. I wanted them to reach the new apartment in the pink of their health. Of course they did. A few months later, few bags still remain unopened or arranged. For that matter I don’t own any book shelves. I am able to maintain a healthy book collection irrespective of owning any book shelves! Go figure.

The author of the aforementioned article talks of trying to find a book on the bookshelf only to realise how unwieldy it is to arrange books. The true meaning is in the chaos of having them left un-arranged. That got me thinking about the books I have lent to others. I have never been possessive about books. At times, out of the blue something strikes my fancy that sends me into a thought thread that makes me aware of that related book I had once owned and read, that makes me think of where it must be now.*

That brings me to a conversation I once had with a boy I was in love with. In a moment of sadness induced clarity we were discussing how all the people we get to know closely (call them friendship, mutual affection, love) end up becoming horcruxes of our selves at that point in time. The sadness bit kicks in if you think about all the relationships or friendships that did not work out. Otherwise its pretty (not that dark) cool no?

I am just extending that thought here (so what if the boy and I are no longer in each other’s lives). If you have ever borrowed a book from me or lent me a book, we have exchanged pieces of ourselves in doing so. Through the books that I lent you, you somewhere got to know me and vice versa. What a heartening thought! We are connected. Especially in this pandemic-induced paranoia and uncertainty.

*I also tried to track all lent books in a spreadsheet to have a sense of their whereabouts. My life could not sustain that order. I believe they are with worthy minds wherever they are.

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