The Sunday Haul

Somehow since the past couple of weeks the haul during my weekly visits to the second hand book bazaar at Abids has been just one or two titles. It is something I welcome since I am running out of space at home to store all the books I keep buying all the time. The other Sunday I had bought just one book and the Sunday before the last Sunday too I bought just one book.

At Chikkadpally I saw a few Robert B. Parker titles and only one of them was a title I did not have and the rest were all titles I have a couple of copies of. I picked up ‘Pale Kings and Princes’ that I got for just twenty rupees though I could have got it for a lesser price. There was a copy of ‘A Case of Exploding Mangoes’ by Mohammed Hanif that I did not buy. Later I felt I should have bought it but last Sunday too I did not pick it up though the title was still on the pavement.

Last Sunday though the haul was nil as I did not find any book worth buying except for a book on solving crosswords. I found ‘Cryptic Crosswords & How to Solve Them’ by Fred Piscop that I got for just twenty rupees. There seemed to be nothing else interesting to pick up. However, I also picked up the June 2014 issue of Conde Nast Traveller. I got it from my favorite seller for only twenty rupees.
It was a hot day though with the temperature somewhere in the mid thirties which is a bit unusual for this time of the year. There has been no rain for a long time which is another thing weighing on my mind since one of my tasks on the job is to keep track of the monsoon. I have to send reports to everyone who matters on how much it has rained and what the deficit it. As on today, the rainfall deficit in the State (Telangana) is 53 % if any of you cares to know.