A 'No Book' and 'Peace at Dawn' Sunday

It was again that time of the month for me to fill up on the monthly dose of early morning solitude at the Necklace Road. Last Sunday I went to the Necklace Road and I reached earlier than my usual time. It was still dark but there were people around walking and playing. Somehow in the stillness of the morning one gets more from life than at other times. I felt that the whole world was mine for the one hour I was at Necklace Road waiting for the sun to come up. As usual, the mind was busy sorting out the issues that needed attention. There was a lot I had on hand that was incomplete. The revision of the book was topmost of the pile of things I am not paying much attention to. I am working on the revision but not at the rate I had planned to. I left deciding to devote more attention and time to the revision and complete it by end of March.

Later I sat in Adarsh with the Sunday papers and whiled away another hour going through everything I found interesting. There weren’t many people in the hotel. I’ve noticed that in the mornings groups of people come for tea and snacks. They sit talking earnestly while sipping tea. Suddenly they all break into loud guffaws, slapping on one another’s shoulders. I guess early mornings bring on good cheer in every one. It feels good to be alone out of the home on a Sunday morning sitting in a café and reading the weekend papers without any sort of disturbance.

For some reason I couldn’t find a single book worth buying when I got to Abids a couple of hours later. It was a hot day but the crowds had already started browsing the books laid out on the pavements. Another few weeks, kids and students will flock to Abids looking for books to read in the holidays. The hardcover copy of Peter Mayle’s ‘Tojours Provence’ still lay in the heap of books selling for ten rupees. I had seen it a few weeks ago and now I guess I should pick it up. I had seen Dave Barry’s ‘Homes and Other Black holes’ in another heap two weeks ago but I was unable to spot it this Sunday. I wanted to give it to a friend but I was unlucky this Sunday.