The Sunday Haul

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There are certain days when I have a strong feeling that I would be returning home from Abids with a good haul. Last Sunday turned out to be one such Sunday and I set out from home eagerly wondering what I’d be finding in the second hand book bazaar at Abids. I did not have to wait until I got to Abids because at Chikkadpally itself I knew my hunch had been right. There’s a seller in Chikkadpally who usually manages to find some good titles and puts them up for sale. The other Sunday I had picked up Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni’s ‘Sister of My Heart’ from him as well as other titles before that. I make it a point to check out his collection before I go on to Abids though on a few occasions I rushed to Abids without stopping. Last Sunday I was glad I stopped because I spotted Daniyal Mueenuddin’s ‘In Other Rooms, Other Wonders’ among the books on the pavement at Chikkadpally. The copy was in good condition and was almost brand new. I thought the seller would ask for no less than a hundred rupees for it. When he asked for seventy five rupees I was relieved but did not buy it right away. I decided to bargain and push my luck. He agreed to lower the price and I got it for only sixty rupees. At that price the book was a really good find. Daniyal Mueenuddin would be the third or fourth Pakistani writer I would be reading after Mohsin Hamid and Mohammed Hanif. I had read about Mueenudding and this title a long time back but did not really expect to find it in Hyderabad. ‘In Other Rooms, Other Wonders’ is a collection of just eight short stories: Nawabdin Electician/ Saleema/ Provide, Provide/ About a Burning Girl/In Other Rooms, Other Wonders/Our Lady of Paris/ Lily/ A Spoiled Man. There’s a lot of praise for the book that fills up quite a number of pages in the front before the actual stories begin. Even otherwise I would have been dumb not to have picked up the book. After finding ‘In Other Rooms, Other Wonders’ at Chikkadpally, I did not find anything really interesting at Abids. I had read in Diana Athill’s ‘Stet’ about Mordecai Richler and his book ‘The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz’ which I thought I’d buy if I come across it. I saw it at Abids last Sunday but did not buy it because the seller was a guy who doesn’t sell cheap. I had earlier seen the same book in a heap of books selling for twenty/thirty rupees so decided to look out for it on another Sunday. Next Sunday there may not be many sellers at Abids since the festival season begins but I will anyway go. Later on I found a decent enough copy of the fourth edition of ‘The Elements of Style’ and got it for forty rupees. Since I already own a couple of copies of this book I gave it to Srikanth. After I got home I read one of the stories in ‘In Other Rooms, Other Wonders’ titled About a Burning Girl- and I found Daniyal Muneeuddin’s writing to be worthy of all the praise that it has got. I’m glad I bought the book. Pen News Close on the heels of the news that Lawrence & Mayo is now into pens comes the news that Louis Vuitton is also getting into pens. I wonder when I will get to see a few models in Hyderabad.