The Sunday Haul (on 14-04-2017)

Summer is truly here in Hyderabad. After a few weeks of high temperatures hovering around forty degrees now it has touched 40 degrees already. Last Sunday at Abids I wondered if I should go ahead and browse around the pavements of Abids in the hot sun. I decided the heat and discomfort of being out in the hot sun was better than the miserable feeling I get if I sit at home on Sunday instead of visiting Abids. So there I was patiently looking up and down the covers of hundreds of books displayed on the pavements. This patience was rewarded at last when I found two titles that I picked up before I headed home to escape the scorching sun.

Though I am not a passionate conservationist I do love nature. I am concerned at the way some species are going extinct. I do not find many well written books on nature and wildlife in India at Abids. It is only very rare and infrequent that I come across a well written book on wildlife in India. On Sunday I came across a copy of ‘Nature’s Spokesman: M.Krishnan & Indian Wildlife’ edited by the venerable Ramachandra Guha that turned out to be a Penguin title. I confess that I did not know who M. Krishnan was until I picked up this book. This is a collection of more than sixty articles by M. Krishnan on wildlife in India edited by Guha. I felt very happy finding this wonderful book that I got for hundred rupees. I consider myself fairly well acquainted with people who write on various subjects and issues but I had not come across the name of M.Krishnan. It is my own loss but since I found this title I am really glad that now I know who he is.

The second find of Sunday was another title that I already have with me. In a corner of the street I found a copy of ‘Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee’ by Dee Brown. I had found a good copy a long time back though I have not read it till now because it is a considerably sized volume. Since I already own a copy of this book I did not want to pick it up and went away. But on the way back after going up to the last seller I did not have the heart to leave this title behind and picked it up. It was in a heap of twenty rupee books so I took it. There might be someone who might want to read this book I thought as I paid for it and took it.