My home-sweet-home isn’t large at all. I have to say that it’s very small. It’s just a one-room kitchen in a chawl. Family members? Five in all. Pa and Ma and my two sisters Who can be cute but often are blisters And with the virus in the city Everyone’s home and that’s a pity Because things can get a little cramped Our spirits can get a little damped. So when I want some space I look Into the pages of a book. For ever since I met Br’er Rabbit I’ve developed a serious reading habit. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jerry Pinto (He/Him) (@mahimkajerry) I went with Cinderella to the ball And howled at the Moon with the blue jackal. With Rudyard Kipling, I lived through blizzards. With Harry Potter, I fought dark wizards. With Roald Dahl, I encountered witches. Gerald Durrell kept me in stitches. Fools sometimes cast me a look And ask: What can you do with a book? What can you do with a book? What can’t you do with a book? I can dream up computers like Charles Babbage. I can learn from a farmer how to grow cabbage. I can join a space mission and go to Mars. Or just fly there with my superpowers. I can hunt with lions, I can fly with bees. I can learn to cook from old recipes. And once a book’s over, once it’s been read. I can still find bits inside my head. So I don’t need a home that’s big and grand So long as a book is close to hand. (Jerry Pinto is a Mumbai-based writer)