"I began reading to get the better of the nerds of my school. I was
talking of the boys with thick spectacles who came first or second or third in my
class in Kolkata. I was quite bad at studies even though I too wore
spectacles and of a thickness to match those of the finest minds. As a
consequence, there were many students ahead of me. It was to counter
their showing off of world affairs, Indian history and China's top 20
communist leaders, that I started reading. Technically, I could learn
these things by asking others but then those asked would know that I do
not know. Reading was the only way to appear innately knowledgeable."
(Source: Prologue to An Economist's Miscellany)
No comments:
Post a Comment