FINDING MORE GOOD BOOKS AT ABIDS ON SUNDAY

The festivals of Ramzan and Dasera are only a couple of weeks away and Hyderabadis are busy shopping whenever there is time. This Sunday too, anticipating a shopping rush the regular shopkeeper kept their shops open forcing off the second hand booksellers from the pavements in front of their shops. There wasn’t a single bookseller in Metro estate this Sunday but elsewhere there were enough of them to yield a small haul for me.

The first find of the day was Walter Mosley’s ‘Black Betty’ that I got for twenty five rupees. ‘Black Betty’ is an Easy Rawlins mystery much like his other book- ‘Red Death’ that I have already read. The ex-US President, Bill Clinton is a fan of Walter Mosley.

The next book I found was an old book by an Indian author published by an Indian publishing firm. The book was ‘Light Luggage’ by VV John and published by Pearl Publishers. I got this collection of witty essays for only ten rupees. Prof.VV John was the Director of Education in Rajasthan in the sixties according to the blurb. What was interesting to note was that there were Indian publishing houses earlier in the sixties and there is no trace of them now. I leafed through the books sipping tea in the Irani hotel- Light of India and I found that VV John's style was truly funny. I was glad I found the book. I am planning to pick up more such books by Indian writers in the coming days.

The next find was a double bonanza. I saw a Penguin imprint in a heap of books near the twin theatre complex beside the Irani hotel. The book was Stuart Mclean’s ‘Welcome Home’- Travels in Small Town Canada. I got this 450+ pages book for only twenty rupees. I picked it up on a hunch that being a Penguin book it might be good. I will know it only after I read it. But the next find caught me by surprise. It was Elmore Leonard’s ‘City Primeval- High Noon in Detroit'. I had read about this book only recently and I got it for only twenty rupees!

I got only four books this Sunday but I was happy with them. Next Sunday I don’t think there will be as many sellers at Abids as there were this Sunday. But I will come nevertheless.