It turned out to be a lucky Sunday with a couple of unusual and serendipitous finds. I got there at eleven, my usual time and it was very hot this Sunday too. The Sunday’s first find was the July 2007 issue of ‘Conde Nast Traveler’ magazine that I got for forty rupees. It was a bit on the higher side but I took it anyway after I saw some gorgeous pictures inside of places like Ibiza, Funchal, Friesland and Montenegro.
The next find was in the Bommana lane. I found Farrukh Dhondy’s ‘Poona Company’. It is a collection of stories and Salman Rushdie says on the front cover that it is ‘a beautiful collection, full of affection and an extremely funny book.’ It had the following stories: Cotton Figures, Samson, Black Dog, Boomerang, Dinsy, Confession, Chamak, Gandhiji, and Rose de Bahama. The book is slim, about a hundred and fifty pages. I got it for twenty rupees. It was the first book of Farrukh Dhondy I would be reading. Until now I had read only his columns in the Deccan Chronicle.
Elsewhere I noticed that the paperback copy of Linda Greenlaw’s ‘Hungry Ocean’ was still unsold along with Elmore Leonard’s “Killshot’ and Paul Theroux’s ‘Chicago Loop’. If they happen to be there next Sunday I will buy them. The last find at Abids was yet another copy of the Mont Blanc catalog- Expressions, that I got for only ten rupees. This is the third such copy I have with me. I plan to give it away to anyone who loves fountain pens. I had given my second copy to a friend I made recently and incidentally, through this blog.
I had finished the rounds at Abids by one in the afternoon and while returning home I stopped at Chikkadpally to check out the books here. Abids is not the only place where one can find people selling second hand books. There’s Koti and also Chikkadpally where about four or five people sell on the pavements. Here’s where I made my serendipitous finds getting two books.
The first find was VS Naipaul’s ‘The Middle Passage’, a Penguin edition which I got for thirty rupees only. It was a good copy without any damage and I was glad I found it because I had read about it somewhere described as a great read. I don’t know when I would be able to read it but I was really pleased I found it. There was William Golding’s ‘The Spire’ also but I didn’t pick it up.
The second lucky find was a book I had been on the look out for ever since some one gushingly told me that I must, must read it. It was the ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ by Douglas Adams. I felt a bolt of thrill pass through when my eyes fell on the title. It was not in such a good shape though. Half the pages were sort of crumpled. Some of the pages had moisture stains on them but otherwise it was in good shape. It seemed it has an extra bonus of about 90 pages about the making of the film too. All this for only thirty bucks. It was a find that capped the day’s haul.
The next find was in the Bommana lane. I found Farrukh Dhondy’s ‘Poona Company’. It is a collection of stories and Salman Rushdie says on the front cover that it is ‘a beautiful collection, full of affection and an extremely funny book.’ It had the following stories: Cotton Figures, Samson, Black Dog, Boomerang, Dinsy, Confession, Chamak, Gandhiji, and Rose de Bahama. The book is slim, about a hundred and fifty pages. I got it for twenty rupees. It was the first book of Farrukh Dhondy I would be reading. Until now I had read only his columns in the Deccan Chronicle.
Elsewhere I noticed that the paperback copy of Linda Greenlaw’s ‘Hungry Ocean’ was still unsold along with Elmore Leonard’s “Killshot’ and Paul Theroux’s ‘Chicago Loop’. If they happen to be there next Sunday I will buy them. The last find at Abids was yet another copy of the Mont Blanc catalog- Expressions, that I got for only ten rupees. This is the third such copy I have with me. I plan to give it away to anyone who loves fountain pens. I had given my second copy to a friend I made recently and incidentally, through this blog.
I had finished the rounds at Abids by one in the afternoon and while returning home I stopped at Chikkadpally to check out the books here. Abids is not the only place where one can find people selling second hand books. There’s Koti and also Chikkadpally where about four or five people sell on the pavements. Here’s where I made my serendipitous finds getting two books.
The first find was VS Naipaul’s ‘The Middle Passage’, a Penguin edition which I got for thirty rupees only. It was a good copy without any damage and I was glad I found it because I had read about it somewhere described as a great read. I don’t know when I would be able to read it but I was really pleased I found it. There was William Golding’s ‘The Spire’ also but I didn’t pick it up.
The second lucky find was a book I had been on the look out for ever since some one gushingly told me that I must, must read it. It was the ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ by Douglas Adams. I felt a bolt of thrill pass through when my eyes fell on the title. It was not in such a good shape though. Half the pages were sort of crumpled. Some of the pages had moisture stains on them but otherwise it was in good shape. It seemed it has an extra bonus of about 90 pages about the making of the film too. All this for only thirty bucks. It was a find that capped the day’s haul.
2 comments:
It was a feast.Only a passionate lover of books will ever understand another one's craving.Dude!that was a great day.Wishing you more happy sundays.
Expecting more of this very simple yet good peice of writing with extraordinary clarity...
If you get time please comment on my experiments with surrealism and magical realism...
MIP, thank you for yor comments.
Vinod
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