The Sunday Haul (on 26.10.2025)

It was another bright and sunny morning on Sunday morning in Hyderabad as I started for Abids and stopped at Chikkadpally enroute. There are four sellers at X Roads and also Chikkadpally with limited stock but sometimes they have wonderful titles. Every Sunday I find something or the other that interests me. Last Sunday I found a wonderful set of books on history. I found two volumes of ‘The History of Europe Vol I’ by H.A.L. Fischer & ‘The History of Europe Vol II’ by H.A.L. Fisher that were quite voluminous but looked very interesting. I got t hem for a hundred rupees each.

I remember reading about John Ruskin somewhere recently and so when I saw a copy of ‘Unto This Last and Other Writings’ by John Ruskin I picked it up to check out what it was all about. It was a ‘Penguin Classics’ a sign that it is a good book so I did not read further and bought it. I got this book too for a hundred rupees.

Then at Abids I sat in Star of India café with two friends and we talked about a lot of things including, of course, books. I told them about ‘The Summing Up’ by Somerset Maugham and also about ‘On Writing’ by Stephen King, two of my favorite books. Then we set out to look around and I spotted a copy of ‘The Writing Life’ by Annie Dillard that made my pulse race as I took it out. I had read about this book a long time back and I wanted to read it since I have a copy of her ‘Living with Fiction’ that I had found years ago. I was thrilled when the seller asked for only fifty rupees for it.

The Sunday Haul (on 19-10-2025)

 It turned out to be a bright and sunny day in Hyderabad last Sunday. I was in a good mood when I set out for Abids and returned in an even better mood because I made a fantastic haul of four second-hand titles from the pavements. Once again last Sunday’s haul proved that I am very lucky when it comes to finding good titles.

As usual my first stop was at Chikkadpally where four people sell second-hand titles on the pavements of the road leading towards RTC X roads where there is another seller at a corner. I’ve found many good titles with these sellers so I always make it a point to check out these places before I head for Abids.

My first find was a book that had a cover that stood out. It was a copy of ‘In Search of Fatima: A Palestinian Story’ by Ghada Karmi with the photograph of a young girl standing before someone, her father perhaps. Only his hand on the girls shoulder is visible. The yellow background is striking and it was this that caught my eye. It appeared brand new and I knew I had to buy it not because it was about Palestine but also because of the blurb by Karen Armstrong right on the cover. I want to read it along with all the books on Palestine I have collected so far.

Just as I got to Abids I got a call from a friend that he was waiting along with three other friends in Star of India so I hurried towards it. On the way my eyes fell on a cover with the title ‘Poovan Banana and Other Stories’ by Vaikkom Muhammad Basheer that I picked up. A long time back I had found the same title though an older edition, and recently had found another collection of Basheer’s stories. I could not resist buying since finding such titles is next to impossible. I got this almost new book for just fifty rupees. The sixteen stories in it are translated from the Malayalam into English by V. Abdulla.

Somehow last Sunday’s talk with my newly made friends, all of them book lovers, was most stimulating as we discussed the books we had bought till then. I showed them Basheer’s book and then Anil, a small indie publisher of classic novels translated into Telugu told me he loved Basheer and asked me to give him the next copy of ‘Poovan Banana’ if I happened to find one. Almost an hour later we dispersed feeling that we could have continued the discussion for hours if we did not have to go home to our families.

Sometime back I had come across a book by Athol Fugard and it turned out to be a book of his plays. I was not aware that he had written a novel so when I saw a copy of ‘Tsotsi’ by Athol Fugard with a seller I almost did not buy it. Out of curiosity I checked it out and saw that it was a novel. I bought it for a hundred and fifty rupees which is on a higher side but I think it is worth it.

Again a long time back I had read in a book on writing about ‘The Spooky Art: Thoughts on Writing’ by Norman Mailer but did not expect to find it anywhere. So I was surprised when I spotted a copy on a wooden shelf of a seller and grabbed it the instant I saw it. This book too came at a steep price of a hundred and fifty rupees but I guess it is totally worth it.

The Sunday Haul (on 12-10-2025)

 Coming back to Hyderabad after a two-day outstation trip felt different as if seeing the city anew. It was a bright and sunny morning last Sunday at Hyderabad when I left home to go to the Abids second-hand book market. I saw a nice copy of ‘If On a Winter’s Night a Traveller’ by Italo Calvino but I did not buy it as I had bought one only a couple of Sundays back. Also the title I had seen the previous Sunday about hunting tigers and wildlife was gone! I regretted not buying it then.

I got a call from a friend that other friends were waiting for me at Star of Indian café. So I hurried there first and had a long talk with them about books and publishing. One of the friends I made recently was a publisher of books in Telugu who showed me the two titles he would be going for printing in a couple of days. Another new friend was a scriptwriter in the Telugu film industry and was quite enthusiastic about reading. He showed me the more than half a dozen titles of Telugu novels he had picked up. Another new friend I met last Sunday was a young Telugu writer who had already published a book. It made me a bit envious of all the things they were doing whereas I was struggling with my second book since more than four years. I wonder when I will be able to finish it, and also hope that this book won’t take two decades to finish like my first book.

After nearly an hour’s talk I set out to look for titles to buy. I saw a copy of ‘The Prabhakaran Saga: The Rise and Fall of an Eelam Warrior’ by S. Murari with a beautiful cover that I immediately bought. I have been following the civil war in Sri Lanka since a long time and I thought this book would fill some gaps in my knowledge and understanding of the issue. S. Murari, the author, is a journalist who has covered the conflict in Sri Lanka.

A long time ago I had found a copy of ‘Republican Party Reptile’ by P.J. O’ Rourke that I enjoyed reading because he is a writer of some good humour. So when I saw a copy of ‘Holidays in Hell’ by P.J. O’ Rourke I decided to buy it though I had seen copies of it earlier too but somehow did not feel like buying. I got it for fifty rupees.

The Sunday Haul (on 05-10-2025)

 

Somewhere I have jotted down a list of authors whose books I have not been able to find anywhere. It included Clarice Lispector, Jon Fosse, and also Halldor Laxness. Last Sunday at Abids I spotted a title that filled me with the kind of joy that I had not felt since a long time. I found a copy of Halldor Laxness’ ‘Independent People’ on the pavement amidst a few books strewn around. I couldn’t believe it at first but when I took out the book I realized it was indeed a Halldor Laxness title. It was a brand new copy and I wondered how it got there. I paid only a hundred rupees for it.

Actually I thought the Abids trip wouldn’t come out as it started to rain very heavily early in the morning and continued. I had almost given up the idea of going to Abids but miraculously the rain stopped around ten in the morning. I then set out after breakfast and took the bus to Chikkadpally where I couldn’t find anything though I had seen a title I thought I would buy the following Sunday.

But before I found the Halldor Laxness title I found another wonderful title, a travel title, a genre I love to read. This title was like a buffet meal with thirty-five essays by well-known travel writers, and the book I found was a hardcover copy of ‘The Penguin Book of Indian Journeys’ edited by Dom Moraes. Most of the essays in this collection are by travel writers whose books I have already found and also read. Some of them include Anita Nair, Alexander Frater (Chasing the Monsoon), James Cameron (Indian Summer), P. Sainath (Everybody Loves a Good Drought), Paul Theroux, V.S. Naipaul, Anees Jung and a few writers I did not know before I found this collection. I have no idea about Joe Roberts, Dawood Ali McCalum, and also Jonah Blank. Somehow there were notable omissions like Pankaj Mishra (Butter Chicken in Ludhiana), Pico Iyer, Dervla Murphy, and also Elizabeth Bumillier (May You Be the Mother of a Hundred Sons). I don’t know if these writers had published their books after 2001 when ‘The Penguin Book of Indian Journeys’ was published.

The book had looked familiar when I first spotted it and though I had a feeling that I have a copy of this book I bought it. Later when I sorted through my books at another place where I keep my books, I saw a copy of ‘The Penguin Book of Indian Journeys’ that I do not remember when and where I had bought it. But this copy was in a better condition than the one I bought last Sunday.

The Sunday Haul (on 28-09-2025)

 

It had been raining incessantly in Hyderabad all of last week and it looked like it would rain on Sunday also. But miraculously it did not rain though the sky was cloudy almost all day. As usual I started out after breakfast and first stop was at Chikkadpally. I saw a nice copy of ‘If On a Winter’s Night A Traveller’ by Italo Calvino but I did not buy it as I had a copy at home. Disappointed with the fare at Chikkadpally I went to Abids. 

It is the festival season with Dasara only a few days away when the regular shops are open on Sunday also which meant that some of the second-hand booksellers were not at their usual spots. That and the fact that there was the possibility of rain also kept some more sellers away from Abids. However, there were a few sellers like those in front of GPO and those in the lanes. With one of the sellers before GPO I found a copy of ‘Difficult Loves and Other Stories’ by Italo Calvino that I had seen the previous Sunday but had not bought. I got this collection of four stories for a hundred rupees. I read on the back cover that the collection includes three of his best-known stories- ‘Smog’, ‘A Plunge into Real Estate’, and ‘The Argentine Ant’ that is described as ‘most terrifying and memorable of all’. I have to read these stories one by one soon.

The next find also happened to be a collection of short stories. I spotted a copy of ‘Short Stories by New Zealanders’ edited by Phoebe C. Meikle, that looked like a text book because it had notes and questions. There were stories by Frank Sargeson, Dan Davin, A.P. Gaskell, and Maurice Duggan, all writers of the past. I got it for fifty rupees only. 

The Sunday Haul (on 21-09-2025)

Just recovering from a severe sinus infection and feeling rather weak I had decided to skip Abids and rest at home but I changed my plans after Hari called to say he was coming to Abids. It was a bright and sunny morning last Sunday in Hyderabad, and the forecast for the next week was that it would rain during the weekend from 25^th due to a Deep Depression since it looked likely that it would rain the coming Sunday also. So I decided to make hay while the sun shines and started off by skipping the sellers at Chikkadpally and heading straight to Abids where my friend was waiting. 

On the way to meet him I saw a copy of a book with such an attractive cover that I instantly picked it up. It was a beautiful copy of ‘Ancient Tales & Folklore of China’ by Edward T.C. Werner, a subject that I am very interested in so I bought it right away. I got it for a hundred rupees. 

The next find was a copy of ‘When We Were Orphans’ by Kazuo Ishiguro with a small portion of the cover and the pages below torn off but that did not deter me from buying it. It was a faber & faber first edition, and I had also not read this Ishiguro novel so in it went into the haul. 

Later I sat with Hari in the Bench café in one of the side lanes and talked over omelette, bun maska, and ginger chai for a long time.  

The Sunday Haul (on 14-09-2025)

 

It was quite a surprise that it did not rain almost all day last Sunday as there was a forecast of heavy rain for a couple of days, and also since it had rained quite heavily the day before, on Saturday evening. I was pleased that the weather gods were kind as I set out for Abids. As usual I stopped at Chikkadpally and found three good titles. 

The first find of the day was a nice copy of ‘Japan: The Story of a Nation’ by Edwin O. Reischauer with an attractive golden yellow cover with a painting of flowers. The size was also different as it was narrower than the usual sizes that books come in. 

With another seller down the road I found two wonderful titles I did not expect to find. Sometime back I had found a copy of ‘In Search of Lost Time Volume I: Swann’s Way’ and realized that it would be impossible to find the other volumes. But miracles happen and last Sunday I found copies of Volumes I and II of ‘In Search of Lost Time’ by Marcel Proust- ‘In Search of Lost Time Volume II: Within a Budding Grove’ and ‘In Search of Lost Time Volume III: The Guermantes Way’. I was delighted that I found these wonderful titles and at the same time felt alarmed that put together they run into hundreds of pages that I would never find the time to read unless I put aside everything and read these. 

Another title I picked up was a copy of ‘Looking for Maya’ by Atima Srivastava that had an attractive cover, and also because I felt I had read the author’s name somewhere long time back. I picked up as it was a Penguin title. This book was a British Library discardd.dI got it for fifty rupees.

The Sunday Haul (on 07-09-2025)

 

Last Sunday it was the day after the Ganesh procession, and the trucks with long trailers that had carried the idols for immersion were returning with the revellers playing loud music. Then there was all the trash, and stuff left in the aftermath of the procession. As I expected all the sellers hadn’t turned out so I could get over my browsing in under an hour.

But before I got to Abids I made the usual stop at the sellers in Chikkadpally. I was drawn to an attractive cover on a book with the title ‘The Cousins’ by Prema Raghunath on it. I hadn’t heard of the title and also the author seemed unknown but I bought the book anyway after I noticed that it was published by Zubaan. 

The next find was at another seller in Chikkadpally who had many good titles that I was tempted to buy but instead ended up buying a copy of ‘Penguin Island’ by Anatole France. I had only read about Anatole France but this was the first book by him that I found. 

At Abids where I reached about half hour later, I found a copy of ‘What We Talk About When We Talk About Love’ by Raymond Carver. It was in a heap of Rs.50 books, and I hesitated for a few moments because I already had a copy of it. But in the end, I picked it up. 

The last title in Sunday’s haul wasn’t something I picked up off the pavement. A couple of weeks ago I had met Anil Battula, a bibliophile who is so passionate about books and literature that he is said to have a vast collection of Telugu books, some going back to the 1930s or earlier than that. Last Sunday, I met him again and while talking with him over chai at the Star of India café in Abids along with another bibliophile he showed me a copy of a classic titled that he had got translated into Telugu and published it. It was a copy of ‘Cycle Donga’ originally ‘Bicycle Thief’ by Cesare Zavattini (?) that was made into a movie by Vittorio de Sica, and that became a classic.  It had a beautiful cover and I took it from him. I don’t know much Telugu so I do not know when I will finally get around to reading it. 

The Sunday Haul (on 31-08-2025)

 

It was cloudy last Sunday in Hyderabad though it didn’t rain while I was in Abids until afternoon. Once again, I had a haul of seven books though I had planned to buy just one or two books. 

The first find was a title that first felt like it was a collection of stories for children but ‘Monkey Times and Other Stories’ by Thangam is a collection of real-life experiences, interesting ones, of Thangam, who had written down these in a notebook. I was surprised to read that she had lived in Hyderabad when the book was published in 2003, when she was eighty years old. I got this hardcover title for only thirty rupees.

I had someone, a follower on X, with me so while I showed her a book she might be interested in, I noticed a title I was interested in. It was a copy of ‘Ranjit Singh: Maharaja of the Punjab’ by Khushwant Singh that had a very attractive cover with the portrait of Ranjit Singh. It is a biography that I hope to read sometime soon. 

The next find was another hardcover title- ‘Hyderabad Hazir Hai’ by Vanaja Banagiri, a collection of essays on various aspects of Hyderabad by some notable Hyderabadis like Narendra Luther, Vijay Marur, Mohammad Ali Baig, G. Rajaraman and others with their essays on various aspects of Hyderabad such as its cuisine, art, and even real estate! But the essay I liked most was ‘All Things Hyderabadi’ by Vanaja Banagiri, the editor of the collection, because she covered everything in it- the history, the lingo, clothing, religion, hospitality, architecture etc. 

In a Rs. 50 lot I spotted a copy of ‘Travelling In, Travelling Out’ by Namita Gokhale, a collection of travel essays by Aakar Patel, Jerry Pinto, Navtej Sarna, Urvashi Butalia, and others about their travels. 

Sometime last week I had received a copy of ‘Bombay- A Private View’ by Vinod Mehta that he seemed to have self-published when he was very young. There is a photograph of him on the back cover, complete with long hair and dark glasses. Last Sunday when I saw a nice copy of ‘Lucknow Boy’ by Vinod Mehta, his memoir of his days as a journalist and editor of ‘Outlook’ I picked it up though I already have a copy that I read long time back.

This was one title that has been eluding me since a long time, ever since I read about it. The seller called me and asked me to look in a bag he had. It was filled with some good titles including ‘Churchill’s Secret War’ by Madhusree Mukerjee, one of the two titles I picked out of the bag. I have a copy of ‘The Land of the Naked People’ by the same author that I had first read, only half of it, when I was in Port Blair sometime in 2006. A friend had given it to me and I had to give it back to him after reading only half the book as he was leaving Port Blair. 

The other title that I took out of the bag was a nice copy of ‘An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan’ by Jason Eliot. As the title says it is a travel book. I already have another title by Jason Eliot that I had bought sometime back. I have yet to read it. 

The Sunday Haul (on 24-08-2025)

 The weather was beautiful in Hyderabad last Sunday with clear skies and bright sunshine when I set out a little early for Abids. As usual I stopped at Chikkadpally to check out the few sellers there. I had been seeing a hardcover copy of ‘In An Antique Land’ by Amitav Ghosh since more than a month that I hesitated to ask the seller about its price. I had thought he would ask me more than two hundred rupees but when he said ‘only eighty rupees’ I grabbed it.

At the last seller at Chikkadpally I saw a beautiful, almost new copy of ‘Orientalism: Western Concepts of the Orient’ by Edward W. Said, a title I already own. But this copy was too good to resist and also people ask me for copies of such titles so I bought it paying only hundred rupees for it. 

The first title I saw when I reached Abids was again another one I owned three copies of. I saw a beautiful copy of ‘The Old Patagonian Express’ by Paul Theroux, in a heap selling for fifty rupees only. Theroux is one of my favorite writers and I cannot resist buying all his travel titles so I bought this copy too for just fifty rupees. 

Afterwards I sat in the Star of India with a few new friends I had made at Abids thanks to another friend, Srinivas who is a regular at Abids. We talked for about an hour about Telugu literature and the titles they had bought at Abids just before we met. I can read Telugu but I take a long time to read in Telugu so I really don’t know if I should pick up one slim title. 

We all walked down to the Best Books store down the road and looked at the books outside the store on the pavement. There were books that were for sale at Rs. 100 for three titles. I spotted a copy of ‘Pilgrim’s Road’ by Bettina Selby, a name I had heard recently or one that I must have jotted down in one of my old notebooks. It was a travel title and there’s no way I am letting go of travel titles so I wanted to buy it. But I had to buy two more titles to go along with it. I found a copy of ‘Walking Erect with an Unfaltering Gaze: Myself when Young’ by Ambai, the Tamil writer. I was glad to have found it to be sort of autobiographical with the book being about her life until she is twenty-three years old. It is published by National Book Trust and probably aimed at young readers. But I was delighted to find it so added it and then looked for one more title to complete three titles.  

Again, I found another title that I already own- ‘Learning to Swim and Other Stories’ by Graham Swift, a slim collection of short stories. There are eleven stories in this collection, and when I read one of the stories, I realized that I hadn’t read the copy I had found long back.  

The best find of the day was a few minutes before I left. We were dispersing and they were taking leave of me when I was in a lane looking at the books a seller had when my eyes fell on a small book that looked out of place. I saw that it was a copy of ‘Defeat for Death’ by K.A. Abbas, and on the cover was the price Rs.2! I looked inside and saw that it was published in 1944 and realized that it could be a rare book and bought it for just thirty rupees.