The Sunday Haul (on 21-04-2019

With ‘World Book Day’ just two days away I set out for Abids on Sunday morning for the second-hand book market with an eager anticipation about what I would find. Luckily, I kept on finding some very good titles one after the other ultimately ending up with seven wonderful books in the haul.
‘A Room with a View’ that I found some time ago was the only Virginia Woolf title that I had read. When I saw a copy of ‘The Waves’ by Virginia Woolf I hesitated for some time wondering if I’d ever find the time to read it. But in the end I bought it as the seller said he would give it to me for just twenty rupees.

The next find was a book that I had been noticing since a couple of months with a seller who was rather uptight about the prices of his books. Every time I saw the copy of ‘The Uncommon Reader’ by Alan Bennett with its attractive cover in red and the title in a cursive font I was tempted to buy it for the cover alone. Week after week the seller quoted the same price which was too high for me to buy it. But at the same time I hoped no one would dare buy it. However last Sunday when I asked the price of the book again he wearily told me I could have it for any price I wanted to pay for it. There was a hint of contempt in his voice and I was embarrassed and guilty at the same time for trying to take unfair advantage of the seller who was unable to find any buyers for that book, and for trying to buy it at a low price, though, to be honest I was quite able to afford to pay the price the seller was asking for it. Anyway, perhaps it was guilt or something I bought it at a price that made the seller happy if not overjoyed.

Soon after wards I found another book that I already owned. A friend had gifted me a copy of ‘The Girl Who Ate Books’ by Nilanjana Roy on my birthday last year and I started reading it the moment I got home. Needless to say I enjoyed every word in this wonderful book about reading and books. Hoeing somebody would also similarly enjoy it I bought the copy of ‘The Girl Who Ate Books’ that I saw with a seller who gave it to me for a hundred rupees.

It has been my experience that it is in the unlikeliest places that one finds extraordinary things. In a pile of books being sold for twenty rupees I spotted a copy of ‘Unfinished Journey’ by Yehudi Menuhin which turned out to be his autobiography. I do not have any autobiography by musicians but I had found a copy of Celine Dion’s autobiography that I found before I began this blog.

Given my choices in books that range from across several genres it may sound odd, if not silly, if I mention that Dave Barry is one of my favourite writers. No one can make me laugh the way Dave Barry does with his goofy humour in his articles. I always think I’ll do a lengthy blog post about Dave Barry and his humour writing but somehow I am unable to do it. Though I may not have read all his articles I am certain that I have read almost all the books he has written. I have multiple copies of several Dave Barry titles. At one time I had half a dozen copies of ‘Dave Barry Turns 40’. I do not let go of good copies of any Dave Barry title that I come across. Last Sunday I saw a beautiful copy of ‘Dave Barry in Cyberspace,’ a hardcover one that I got for just thirty rupees.

There are a few writers I have read only one of the several title they have published, usually a non-fiction title. Though I have two copies of ‘Havanas in Camelot’, ‘Sophie’s Choice’, ‘The Long March’ ‘Darkness Visible’ and also ‘This Quiet Dust’ that I had found at various times I have not found other titles by him such as ‘Lie Down in Darkness’ that I kept reading in several articles as one of Styron’s best work. I spotted a much used copy of ‘Lie Down in Darkness’ by William Styron that I bought for just ten rupees.

In the same pile of books in which I found ‘Lie Down in Darkness’ I also found a beautiful, new looking copy of ‘’The Ipcress File’ by Len Deighton. This is perhaps the third or fourth copy of the book that I have bought so far. This copy I got for only ten rupees.

The Sunday Haul (on 14-04-2019)

It would have been a forgettable Sunday had I not found a book at the last moment last Sunday at Abids. The sun was at its usual ‘Very Hot’ setting with the temperature hovering somewhere around 39 degrees. I wondered if it was such a good idea to be out in the open on a hot day looking for old books. I was beginning to feel tired of the whole thing when I spotted an interesting title in a heap of books selling for twenty rupees only. I found a copy of ‘The Schirmer Inheritance’ by Eric Ambler that I decided to buy. A long time ago I had found ‘Here Lies Eric Ambler’ his autobiography that was the first book by Eric Ambler that I read even before I read anything else by him. I want to reread it.

Yesterday (Thursday) there was an event at our Institute so I had to stay back in the evening after office hours. I had a couple of hours to kill so I decided to go to Madhapur to see what the techies were up to after the Metro had begun running. I could see that things were no different here since there was the usual traffic madness on the roads- motorists coming on the wrong side of the road, guys not wearing helmets, overcrowded autorickshaws, and two wheelers with one digit on the number plate hidden or defaced to escape being caught by the traffic cops. Anyway, there was a bookstore- Liberty Books- that I wanted to check out. So after eating ‘Muntha Masala’ in a lane and chai I went to the book store.

There were other titles I wanted to pick up but gave up the idea after I spotted a good copy of ‘If You Can’t Be Good’ by Ross Thomas. Ever since I found a copy of ‘The Fools in Town Are On Our Side’ by Ross Thomas sometime in 2014 I’ve been trying to find and read all his titles. I have managed to find nearly half a dozen titles including ‘Missionary Stew’ but I have not yet found some of his best and well known titles like ‘The Cold War Swap,’ ‘Briarpatch,’ and ‘The Seersucker Whipsaw.’ I hope to find them so soon or else I may have to get them online which I don’t want to do yet. I got ‘If You Can’t Be Good’ for seventy five rupees which is reasonable.

THE SUNDAY HAUL (ON 07-04-2019)

Compared to the exciting day it was the Sunday before last in the company of Chandrahas Choudhury it was pretty normal this Sunday though the weather was harsher. If the previous Sunday I had picked up five titles then last Sunday I could find only two titles, cookbooks both. Somewhere along the line I developed an interest in collecting cookbooks especially those published earlier, more due to their fantastic covers than the recipes they featured.

I’ve never had the opportunity to enjoy Parsi fare so far in my life. I am not aware of any place offering Parsi dishes in Hyderabad but it doesn’t matter much because I am not particular about food. However I do like to pick up cookbooks I come across in Abids if they appear interesting enough. Last Sunday I spotted a good copy of ‘Enjoyable Parsi Cooking’ by Jeroo Mehta that had an attractive cover. I noticed that it was published in 1991 and was in a very good condition. I got it for just fifty rupees.

A little later I saw another nice looking cookbook- ‘Enduring Flavours-An Appreciation of East Indian Cuisine’ by Michael Swamy Fernandes. This book too had a very attractive cover and inside there was a nice introduction to the book along with illustrations. This title was published in 1999. At the back was a bibliography and one title listed in it was ‘The Cooking of India’ by Santha Rama Rau that I hope to find someday.
Coincidentally, these two cookbooks were published by the same publisher- Vakils, Feffer and Simons Ltd., Bombay.

The Sunday Haul (on 31-03-2019)

Last Sunday was one of the most exciting I had at Abids in the many years I had browsed for books there on the pavements. Two things made it very interesting. First thing was a special visitor and the other thing was a book. The special visitor was a writer, Chandrahas Choudhury who I showed around Abids. The book was one by a writer I was desperately looking for- Patrick Leigh Fermor.

My friend Hari who had done a writing workshop along with Chandrahas Choudhury sometime last month, called me to say that Chandrahas Choudhury was in town and wanted to check out the Abids Sunday book bazaar. So that was how I ended up showing Chandrahas Choudhury around Abids last Sunday. We had chai and talked about books, travel books especially and also about his next book- Days of My China Dragon- that is coming out later this month. He told me how this book came about which is an interesting story in itself. By the end of our nearly two-hour traipse through Abids Chandrahas Choudhury picked up nearly a dozen books, of which were a couple of books I pointed out helpfully, and I picked up five books. Later Hari joined us at Mohinis at Basheerbagh where we had lunch (biryani, of course this being Hyderabad) and dispersed.

The only books I buy without a second thought are those on writing, reading, books, fountain pens. I cannot resist buying titles on these topics especially on writing which is one reason why I have almost two hundred titles on writing. So when I saw a copy of ‘Creative Writing’ by Kathryn Lindskoog, which was the first book I spotted, I picked it up.

One of the few travel writers I do not have any title with me in my collection is Patrick Leigh Fermor. Not being able to find any title by him all these years I had been collecting books was distressing to me and periodically I lament about it here. Last Sunday however I got lucky and that gap in my travel collection was closed by a slim volume I found in a pile of books selling for twenty rupees only. Had I not decided to disturb the pile I wouldn’t have spotted the Penguin 60s copy of ‘Loose As the Wind’ by Patrick Leigh Fermor lying underneath other bigger sized books. ‘Loose As the Wind’ is an extract from PLF’s ‘A Time of Gifts’ that I hope I will find somewhere very soon.

The Sunday before, I had bought a copy of ‘The Mirror’ a magazine with a fantastic cover with a seller in front of the General Post Office at Abids. Alongside was another interesting book. It was a book straight out of the 60s with a beautiful cover with ‘A Portrait of the Bombay Underworld’ by Balakrishna on it. I thought I had been foolish not to have bought it right away. Last Sunday I searched anxiously for it and luckily the book was still there in the same pile. The publisher is 'Manaktalas':Bombay' and it was published in 1966. The full name of the author is Kulamarva Balakrishna, a journalist with Free Press Journal. I bought it for fifty rupees and felt glad that I had found an interesting book about the Bombay underworld that is of historical interest.

Not long after I reached Abids and parked my two-wheeler, I spotted a book by M.F.K. Fisher with the seller in the covered lane where I leave the vehicle. I thought of picking it up but did not. Later after Chandrahas bought it after I pointed it out to him. After sometime I came across a copy of another book by M.F.K. Fisher with the title ‘Not Now But Now’ on the cover. I bought it for eighty rupees.

On the way home I stopped at Chikkadpally as usual to check out the books the handful of sellers display. I spotted a copy of ‘When the Shooting Stops…the Cutting Begins’ by Ralph Rosenblum and Robert Karen which was about film editing. Though I know nothing about film editing I like to read such accounts so I ended up buying this book too.