The Lunch, and a Bunch of Books on Sunday

Sunday I was at Jai’s place for lunch which stretched for almost three hours. I hadn’t eaten anything so wonderfully cooked for a long time so I ate three times what I normally eat. I also got a fountain pen as a gift, but the biggest gift was meeting a fellow blogger and a good friend. Because of the lunch, I could not go to Abids in the morning but I made it there in the afternoon around four.

The first find was Calvin Trillin’s ‘Uncivil Liberties’ which I got for only twenty rupees. Trillin is one of Dave Barry’s favorites along with PJ O’Rourke and Tim Cahill. ‘Uncivil Liberties’ is a collection of humorous essays which I love to read. The book was in good condition and I had seen this book at a second hand bookstore near Liberty for a long time. Ultimately, it seems to have made its way to the pavements. Nearly every book in second hand stores ends up on the pavements of Abids.

The next find was yet another good copy of ‘Dave Barry Turns Forty’, which I want to give to someone who loves humor. I have picked up umpteen copies of this book and have given it nearly all my friends. I got this book for only ten rupees. For the same price, I picked up Norman Lewis’ ‘Better English’ as part of my unending attempts to learn grammar.

Next, I found another wonderful book, or rather magazine. It was the ‘National Geographic Guide to Digital Photography’ that I got for a steep one and hundred fifty rupees. The guy knew it was a good book so refused to come down on the price. But it was worth the money I paid just for the stunning pictures inside. I can never take those sort of pictures with my Sony DSC 40 digital camera that I had bought on my trip to the Andamans two years ago. Someday when I finally manage to learn to upload pictures on this blog I will post some pictures I had taken in the Andamans.

The last find of Sunday was another magazine- AARP The Magazine of March-April 2008. I got this magazine for only ten rupees. There was a lot about India in this magazine meant for people on the wrong side of fifty. There was a short interview with the author Jhumpa Lahiri, who is in the news a lot for her new book- 'Unaccustomed Earth’. There were two articles about traveling to India and one of them was by the editor of the magazine, Steven Slon. The article that held the most interest for me was one on collecting titled ‘A Mass Appeal’, about collectors and the things they collect. I was disappointed to find that fountain pen collecting was not discussed. It was another new magazine for me.

Sunday also brought with it the ‘Literary Review’ supplement of ‘The Hindu’ for which I had been eagerly waiting since more than a week. That is, of course, for the next post!