The Sunday Haul

Last Sunday it would have been a haul of three books had I been a bit less dumb. I ended up with only one book, one that I already have a couple of copies of, but missed two titles by a wonderful writer whose writing I discovered only yesterday. A friend had given me ‘ Many Roads Through Paradise’ an anthology of Sri Lankan literature edited by Shyam Selvadurai in which I read ‘A House in the Country’ by Romesh Geunesekera. I found it wonderful and was filled with regret.But all is not lost since I expect to find these two titles on Sunday and this time I am going to pick them up whatever their cost.

On Sunday I had only Uma Shankar for company at our usual Sunday Abids routine. We sat in the cafe and talked about everything under the sun over a cup of chai. The weather was nice, cloudy with a mild breeze. There was no need to wear a cap. After the tea we set out to check out the books on the pavements. The first book I found was Irving Wallace’s ‘The Writing of One Novel’ which is about how he wrote ‘The Prize’ a novel about the Nobel Prizes. I have bought several copies of this title and have given them all away to people who expressed even the mildest interest in writing. This too would go to someone who plans to write.

Earlier on the way to Abids I had stopped at a seller in Chikkadpally where I saw a Romesh Gunesekera novel, the tile of which I do not remember now. I knew the name but somehow I did not buy it. The seller was asking a hundred rupees for it which I did not want to pay. Then at Abids I came across another Romesh Gunesekera novel- ‘The Match’-which I should have bought but did not. Later I realized it was dumb of me not to have bought that book.