The Sunday Haul

It was another cloudy, cool and windy day this Sunday when I set out for Abids sans cap. Though it is officially the rainy season there is no sign of the rains yet. The sky was overcast but it didn’t look like it would rain in Hyderabad. I had a small haul of three books all of which were interesting finds, though I have already read two of them.

For some reason I decided to look at each and every title in a row of young adult fiction books arranged at one place. Normally I don’t even look at them because I don’t read such books. But this Sunday I decided to look carefully and this decision paid off because I found another title of my favorite author to add to my collection. I found Dave Barry’s ‘Homes and Other Blackholes’ which is a totally hilarious book that I got for only twenty rupees. One doesn’t find his books in the regular stores for love or for money. I was very glad the first find of the day was a real treasure.

Over the years I have picked up several copies of books that were either presents or prizes to people who instead of cherishing them decided to dispose them off for some reason or the other. I feel a bit odd finding such books but this Sunday I had a big surprise. I found a copy of ‘The Men Within’ written by my friend, Harimohan. The surprise is that he had inscribed it to someone though he has not written the name, and the person decided not to keep this wonderful book. Whoever is that person who sold it away is some kind of a loser because ‘The Men Within’ is a book one can read any number of times without feeling bored. I picked it up for thirty rupees.

The third and last find of Sunday was in a heap of books selling for ten bucks. Almost every week I am finding something good in this particular heap. This Sunday I found another good book. It was George Orwell’s ‘Down and Out in Paris and London.’ It appeared like some kind of a travelogue cum memoir of the difficult time Orwell spent in these two cities. I usually see many of his books at Abids but this book was a rare find. I got the book for only ten rupees.

I also noticed that Paul Theroux’s ‘Imperial Way’ that I had seen last week, was gone. I felt a twinge of regret for not having picked it up. I also regret now not picking up the January 2008 issue of ‘Esquire’ that the guy wanted ninety rupees for, which was the reason I didn’t go for it. Maybe next week I will buy it, if no one else has.