The Sunday Haul

Unlike most other days last Sunday it was cloudy that made the morning pleasantly cool. Apart from the weather there was Uma, Srikanth and my kid with me on the book hunt at Abids. Despite all this there hung on my head some kind of despondency I was unable to shrug off. Being No. 2 is taking a silent toll which is showing up in my demeanour. I’m silent and introspective most of the time. I thought the outing on Sunday would lighten me up and lighten I did after finding two good books.

The first find was ‘In Praise of Older Women’ by Stephen Vizinczey which I had read about quite a number of times. Though I wasn’t exactly looking forward to reading I couldn’t stop myself from buying it considering the fact that it was a hard cover copy that I had to pay only twenty rupees for. I have to make the time to read it sometime soon.

By noon the sun was out and it turned too warm. At the seller near GPO I spotted a nice copy of P. Sainath’s ‘Everybody Loves a Good Drought’. I had found a copy of the same title but with a different cover a couple of months ago. In fact I am in the middle of reading the book and I want to write a review after I finish it. This copy that I thought was terrific turned out to be a slightly hasty decision. Some of the inside pages were stained and in my eagerness of finding it I hadn’t forgotten to flip through the pages and take a good look before deciding to buy it. I paid a hundred rupees for it but I guess it is still worth it. I have in mind someone I plan to give it to.

The Sunday Haul

Last Sunday it was very, very hot in Hyderabad. At Abids, out in the open, we hunted for books in the heaps. This Sunday two more people (friends of Srikanth) joined us and together we picked up quite a few books. I found only one book- Mario Vargas Llosa's 'The Story Teller' that I got quite cheap.

As usual, I read the first chapter and it was so good that I am currently reading it. Since I am busy being No.2 I couldn't post earlier and it another reason this post is short. Next post would be a bigger one because it would be about the two trips to Delhi I would have made by Wednesday. There would be another post about the downside of being No. 2.

The Sunday Haul and Other Stuff

Come May and Hyderabad turns into a cauldron. Only those with important and urgent business venture in the hot sun on Sundays. Many prefer to stay at home and relax on the holiday. But since I find my relaxation in the hunt for books at Abids I prefer to be there hot sun or not, hoping to get lucky. Last Sunday ( 6th May) too I was at Abids for the hunt. The previous Sunday I had missed picking up two books due to budget problems. This Sunday with the wallet full I could afford to buy the books. Luckily one of the books was still around and the second book wasn't the one I had seen the other day but in its place I found a different title but by the same author. I found Richard Dawkins' ' A Devil's Chaplain' instead of his 'The God Delusion' that I had seen the previous Sunday. I also picked up Octavio Paz's 'In Light of India'. Later at home I read the introduction to the three books I picked up and it was a struggle to prevent myself from reading the rest of the book. However, I am already into 'In Light of India'.

Ever since I read Atul Gawande's 'Better' and 'Complications' I have been on the look for the book that made him famous- 'The Checklist Manifesto.' A friend also wanted to read it and I was a bit desperate to find it and last Sunday at last I came across not one but two copies of it. The edition was a hardcover one and had a drug company's name on it which meant that it was for giving away to doctors who bothered to read such stuff. Anyway, it was a beautiful copy that I got for only eighty rupees. It is one of the books I want to start reading right away.

Uma found Evelyn Waugh's 'Scoop' which I missed spotting. It was a beautiful Penguin copy and was really a good find. However I couldn't find 'No Country for Old Men' by Cormac McCArthy that I had missed the previous Sunday. Since I had seen the movie I thought it wouldn't make any sense buying the book. Later I realized I should have bought it but when I looked it was gone.

The other highlight of that Sunday was the "Literary Review' in 'The Hindu' which I had been waiting for since last month. If last month Aleph had an ad announcing its May releases this month it was the turn of Rupa's new imprint 'raintree' to list out its new releases. There was a lot of stuff in LR but what was interesting was the interview with Anjum Hasan whose new collection of short stories is out. Sometime soon I will buy it since I do enjoy her writing.

The 'Literary Review' in 'The Hindu'

It was a bit of news that was exciting but I actually felt disappointed. I read that Ashokamitran would be in Hyderabad to receive an award from the NTR Trut on the 28th of this month. The disappointing side of this news is that I will be in Delhi attending a meeting on that very day. If I weren't making that trip I would have surely met the great writer and taken his autograph on a copy of 'Mole' that I read recently. Incidentally there is a copy of this book at the new Odyssey branch in Secunderabad.

Ashokamitran in Hyderabad

Unlike the previous years when Best Books Center would have a sale of second hand books in May, this year they plan to have it in September. I was really looking forward to their sale in May but I have to wait another four months.

The Power and Glory of Being No. 2

In the novel ‘The Man’ by Irving Wallace, someone down the pecking order becomes the President of the United State in strange circumstances. Something similar happened in our office recently though the No. 1 is still around and there was no accident or anything like what happens in the novel. Almost overnight from somewhere being No. 5 I became No. 2 in the office. The interesting thing is that apart from being No. 5, I am also No. 2 which is something which happens only in the government.

Sometime last week the No. 2 in the office left abruptly. The No. 3 position was vacant. The No. 4 was out of action since a long time because of an accident. There’s someone between No. 4 and No. 5 but I was chosen as No. 2 for reasons I am yet to comprehend. Never had I dreamt that I would take such a quantum leap up the latter. After a week’s experience as No. 2 all I can say it is no joke being a heartbeat away from being No. 1. Not that I can ever hope to become No.1.It is impossible. So far it has been a smooth ride but I am eager to get back to my No. 5 status because I am not comfortable with a lot of things that come with being No. 2 in our office.

The responsibilities of being No. 2 are rather heavy. But there are a lot of perks that come with the No. 2 job. I have a large room with an AC, an anteroom with an attached toilet and a bed in case I feel like taking a nap, a television set, two telephones, two personal attendants, a PA with his own room and of course, tea and coffee whenever I want. Then there’s the car. It isn’t an ordinary white Ambassador car that I am travelling now but a Honda City. It has two drivers who work in shifts. I had never imagined that I would get driven to work in such a big car.

I keep forgetting that I am the No. 2 and on entering the office go to my old No. 5 seat and spend some time there before being reminded by the personal attendant about the files waiting for me. There are usually mountains of files I have to go through and sign as No. 2. There are too many things to attend at once, especially meetings. Then as No. 2 almost everyone in the office is subordinate to me which means I get too much of respect (most of it false) if I venture out of my room. People make way for me like I am the Pope, they open doors for me like I can’t open them myself and generally treat me in a way that makes me very nervous.

Apart from myself there are others too who do not seem to be very happy at my elevation as No. 2. It shows in their face when they come to me with files with an expression that says they cannot believe I am the No. 2. At times like that and in their presence I begin to feel somewhat unworthy myself. Since I am in the No. 2 seat temporarily I cannot really assert myself very much. The only bright thing about being No. 2, apart from the perks, is the fact that I will get additional pay for being an impostor. But the downside is that I haven’t even once dropped in at Adarsh or Paradise or any Irani joint for chai on the way home. I’m getting to drink Irani chai only on Sundays at Abids.

The Sunday Haul

Of the few things that prevent me from picking up books at will, lack of money tops the list just before lack of time to read. Though I came across more than a couple of books on Sunday that I wanted to pick up I couldn’t do so because it was the end of the month and the wallet wasn’t exactly in a position to support the decision. Nevertheless I picked up two books- one at Abids and the other at Chikkadpally. However the disappointment of not having picked up some books that I had seen overshadowed the joy of finding these books.

At Abids last Sunday I found another travel book- Mary McCarthy’s ‘The Stones of Venice and Rome Observed’- in a heap of books on the pavement. I got this Penguin title for twenty rupees only which is quite a bargain. I haven’t read Mary McCarthy’s other books like ‘The Group’ of which I have heard and read a lot and also come across quite frequently at Abids. But I do plan to read ‘The Stones of Venice and Rome Observed’ one of these days. The blurbs on the back cover make it difficult not to read the book.

More than a couple of years ago I had found Pico Iyer’s ‘Tropical Classical’ which is something of a treasure. ‘Tropical Classical’ showcases Pico Iyer’s essays, travelogues, reviews and other writings in one place. The copy I had found then wasn’t exactly in good condition with the pages coming apart at the spine. Not so long ago I wished I could find a good copy and that wish came true last Sunday at Chikkadpally where I found an almost brand new copy of ‘Tropical Classical’ by Pico Iyer. I preferred to buy this copy of “Tropical Classical’ over Octavio Paz’s ‘In Light of India’ and Richard Dawkins’ ‘The God Delusion’ that I wanted to buy but couldn’t. Maybe next Sunday if the books are around I will pick them up first thing in the morning.

Kitchdi Post- The Sunday Haul and Other stuff

A Cancelled Trip It would have been a kind of a personal record had last week’s planned trip to Chennai materialized. Unfortunately, the railway reservation wasn’t confirmed dashing my hopes for creating a personal record of making three trips in a single month. Earlier in the month I had been to New Delhi and a day later to Tirupati and a week later I was scheduled to go to Chennai. But things did not work out since I was on a waitlist and my reservation was not confirmed. I waited with hope until the last minute. I was looking forward to the visit to Chennai and after that disappointment I cancelled another trip to Pune later this week. One thing I learnt about the whole experience was that one had to get unused railway ticket cancelled as soon as possible preferably on the same day. It was my mistake not being aware of the rules for getting refunds for railway tickets not used. I had thought that being on Waitlist I would get a refund easily whenever I presented the ticket. But when I went to get my refund I was in for a shock. It seems the rules say I have to present the ticket for cancellation within 12 hours. I went a day later with the result that I had to go to Rail Nilayam in Secunderabad and fill an application form. It seems I have to wait for nearly three weeks to know if I could be considered for a refund. Back to Airtel Six months ago if anyone had asked me what I thought about Airtel I would have told them that I would never, ever go for Airtel even if they paid me to become their subscriber. Exactly in September 201 our office decided to opt for BSNL under the number portability scheme because Airtel wasn’t offering good service. But now just six months later, we are bidding goodbye to BSNL and embracing Airtel again. This, perhaps, is the ultimate irony. Happy with BSNL I voiced my opposition to the plan to return to Airtel but in the government things are different. So now I am back to the routine of running out of the house every time I get a call on my mobile. But this time if I get a message from Airtel that they are charging me for using Airtel radio they are going to listen to some music themselves. The Sunday Haul After a bumper haul of Spenser titles the previous Sunday at Abids, I could pick up only one book this Sunday. At one of the sellers at Chikkadpally I found Bertrand Russell’s ‘The Conquest of Happiness.’ At the end of the brief preface Bertrand Russell’s writes ‘It is in the belief that many people who are unhappy could become happy by well-directed effort that I have written this book.’ No points for guessing why I want to read this book especially since I got the book for free. The seller did not accept money from me as earlier I had given him quite a number of old and not so well known titles that I had with me.

The Sunday Haul- Four Spensers & Odyssey’s Latest Branch

The Haul

Normally I go alone to look for books at Abids and return with a couple of good titles if I am lucky. Since about a year Uma has been accompanying me and together we manage to spot some really good books. Now, Srikanth is also coming along with us and the three of us are more or less cleaning up Abids of all good titles. Last Sunday it was a record haul in a way. Usually, only one Spenser title turns up in the haul now and then. But last Sunday we found not one or two but we ended up hauling up four Spenser titles in a span of about fifteen minutes. We found three in a single heap and one with a different seller. Of these, Uma spotted two and I found two. Three of these were almost new, hardcover copies that we got for only thirty rupees each. It was a real treasure finding the Spenser titles.

The first find was Robert B. Parker’s ‘Widow’s Walk’ followed by ‘Bad Business’ both which Uma found in a disorderly heap within minutes. My turn came next when in the same heap I picked up ‘Chance’ that I already have. But the copy I have is a paperback si picked it up. We felt that it was a super Sunday when I spotted another Spenser title- ‘God Save the Child’ on the pavement with another seller. It was a Penguin paperback and seemed to be a very early edition for it looked quite old. It might be one reason the seller asked for only ten rupees for the book. With a haul of four Robert B Parker’s Spenser titles in a day it really looked like a Spenser Sunday.

But that wasn’t all. I picked up a copy of Harper Lee’s ‘to Kill a Mocking Bird’ for a friend’s daughter. I added some more fuel to my scriptwriting dream by picking up another book- The Screenwriter Within- for a hundred rupees. It might help me get the script I am working on out of the cold storage. Another find was Somerset Maugham’s ‘Mrs Craddock’ which was actually the first find of Sunday. I bought the copy for forty rupees just before I met Uma and Srikanth. There was a nice copy of ‘Catch 22’ but I let it be.


Odyssey Opens Another Branch

This wasn’t the only haul last week. A day before, on Saturday I had dropped in at an Odyssey store along with Daniel. Sometime in the previous week I had noticed that the Bata store opposite Baseera in Secunderabad was gone and in its place was an Odyssey store. I did not drop in at that time but last Saturday I got the chance to check it out. There were heaps of books on tables for sale at Rs 100 each. There were quite a number of titles but I found only one book worth picking up. It was Martin Amis’ ‘Visiting Mrs Nabokov’ which is a collection of his non-fiction. One doesn’t find books by Martin Amis that regularly so finding ‘Visiting Mrs Nabokove’ was really lucky.

Two Trips and a Third in the Offing

Trip One .

After a long time I made two trips out of Hyderabad. One was an official trip which was short and the second trip was a personal one and longer. I made both trips in the previous week and felt better for having left Hyderabad for those few days. I hadn’t been out of Hyderabad for quite a while and was actually yearning to go somewhere. Unexpectedly I got a chance to go to Delhi even if it was for a day to attend a meeting on Monday.

On Sunday last I flew out to Delhi in the afternoon so I could spend some time with my brother’s family. Since it was a Sunday and having all the time in the world I decided to take the AeroExpress to the airport in Shamshabad instead of a cab. It was very hot and I couldn’t sit inside the Aero Express shelter near the Secretariat. The bus arrived on time and though it had AC that worked the large TV screen did not. Anyway, I reached the airport in about forty minutes at one third of the cost of a cab.

Every time I go to some place I seem to find changes, minor and major. At the RGI Airport in Shamshabad I noticed that there was a new bookstore- WH Smith Books. However I did not find anything worth buying there. I saw a Karachi Bakery store and picked up half a kilo of Osmania Biscuits for my brother. Later I checked in and to my dismay I got a middle seat sandwiched between two people. The guy at the window dozed off missing some terrific scenes outside of the fluffy white clouds and the sight of a lake and the river leading to it. From up above it appeared like a piece of golden jewellery in the rays of the setting sun. I wish I had my camera but the image stuck in my mind.

At Delhi I was at home all Sunday evening and Monday morning doing practically nothing except catching up on my reading. It wasn’t so hot at Delhi as it usually is in April. By some strange coincidence I seem to be making all my trips to Delhi either in April or November. I had been assigned this trip as a last minute replacement for one of my bosses who was a member of a Committee. I had no idea what to expect in the meeting in the afternoon with a senior IPS officer heading a para-military force. I needn’t have worried much because it was a formal meeting that did not last more than half hour. After the short meeting I went shopping in Sarojini Nagar market and picked up cotton shorts and tees in the hour and half that I spent there.

At the airport in Delhi I noticed that the bookstores that I had seen earlier in Terminal 1 have now closed down. When I landed on Sunday evening it was at the amazing and colossal Terminal 3 which was truly world class. Anyway, I noticed William Penn now have an outlet at the Delhi airport. I had my first glimpse of the famed Moleskines that I have only read about so far. They are far too expensive (from Rs 999 to Rs 1345) for a government babu like me to write in. I had a relatively uneventful flight but got a window seat this time. The brightly lit cities and towns from the plane looked like sparkling diamonds scattered in the darkness below. The vegetable biryani that I had ordered was not only expensive but awful tasting. I wished I hadn’t ordered it but I had no choice since I’d reach home late in the night. It was half past ten when I emerged out of the airport only to find it pleasant outside because of rain.

Trip Two.

A day after I returned from Delhi I went on my second and personal trip which was a pilgrimage of sorts. The second trip was to Tirupati on a package tour. IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) organises everything- the train tickets, food, darshan, local transportation which makes a visit to Tirupati free of all hassles. I had earlier been on a similar package and since it was very convenient I opted for the same package this time too. I went with my family on a two day package that included visits to Srikalahasti and Kaanipakam.

On the first day we were taken to Kaanipakam and while at Srinivasa Mangapuram I learnt something new. All along I had the impression that there was only one route up the Seven Hills from Alipiri if one wanted to go on foot. It is a 11 km climb and takes about four hours. But the guide accompanying us told us about a second route from Srivari Mettu which was only three kilometres and took only about two hours. I made a sudden decision to go up on this route and had to convince the family to agree.

We started at noon and soon discovered that it isn’t the right thing to go up the stairs wearing footwear. Everyone looked at our feet disapprovingly so we took our chappals off. This route isn’t very popular and I do not know the reason. The steps are very steep and though there was overhead cover there weren’t many people climbing up the steps. One has to rest every five or ten minutes because it is very exhausting to climb the steep steps. There are exactly 2400 steps to climb and at the 1200th step we got the Divyadarsanam token. At the 2150th step the cop stamped on this token. I expected to have darshan in about three or four hours and return down afterwards. But it did not go that way.

We reached Tirumala just before two in the afternoon. After lunch we learnt that it would take more than seven hours to have darshan. Since we would be anyway having a darshan the next day we came down to Tirumala where we were put up in the Srinivasam guesthouse. I got my head tonsured which gave me a new look. I had vowed I would climb up the steps and also get my head tonsured.

The next day morning we left at seven in the morning and reached Tirumala just before eight. We had darshan in just two hours which was a minor miracle. We had breakfast at the numerous stalls that dot Tirumala. Afterwards we came down and went to Srikalahasti in the hot sun. Later we had lunch at an APTDC hotel called Haritha at Srikalahasti. After a couple of hours rest we were taken to the railway station. In the train we were given our dinner packs and drinking water bottles. I was glad we had a smooth and uneventful trip.

Trip in the Offing: To Chennai

Next week I will be in Chennai to attend a training program at an institute somewhere at a place called Pallikarnai. I will be holed up in the institute till Friday and might check out Chennai on Saturday. So there will no post next week. Of course, this Friday I will post on the terrific book haul I had on Sunday.

Back from the Edge

It was a traumatic three weeks that I spent worrying about something that I do not wish to go into detail here. Thanks to an overactive imagination (which is one of my great weaknesses) I almost drove myself over the edge. But thanks to my family and a few close friends I'v managed to emerge from it though not fully. The experience also changed me a bit and also made me look at myself in a way I've never done before. Anyway, just as everyone was patient and understanding I hope it will also be understood if I post here less frequently, perhaps once a week, until things get better.

Long Break

I'm on a long break, of a couple of weeks or more, from the blog.