The Sunday Haul at Coimbatore (on 26.03.2023)

Since the past couple of years I’m being sent to Ooty to coordinate trekking of Officer Trainees undergoing Foundation Course at our Institute. I had been to Ooty only last November-December and last week again I had to go to Ooty in preparation of the trek. Last Sunday I was in Coimbatore for a couple of hours on the way back to Hyderabad. Since I had a few hours before the flight in the evening I decided to check out the second-hand bookstores that the cab driver told me about when I asked him. 

 

In Eswaran Kovil street in the Townhall area near the Coimbatore Railway station I saw about half a dozen small stalls each filled with hundreds of books mainly text books but a few had old novels also. I was pretty excited seeing these stalls as I usually spend my Sunday mornings looking for books at the Abids second hand book bazaar. I found a copy of ‘Breakfast on Pluto’ by Patrick McCabe for fifty rupees at one stall. 

Another title I picked up was a copy of ‘Star of the Sea’ by Joseph O’Connor that I got for a hundred and twenty rupees. It was a bit too high a price but I couldn’t resist it. Another reason was that I wanted something to read while waiting at the airport for the flight that was a couple of hours away. 

Now I regret not buying the Alice Munro collection I saw at another stall just because the seller asked a very high price and couldn’t reduce the price. 

 

But I am terribly pleased that I did not miss the Sunday Haul though it wasn’t at Abids in Hyderabad. 

The Sunday Haul (on 12-03-2023)

 However it is the rest of the week, on Sunday I am at my luckiest best. I found four wonderful titles that left me feeling on top of the world. The first title I found was a copy of ‘Bike Ride’ by Anne Mustoe that was obviously a travel title, an account of a trip by a middle-aged woman on a bike to several countries including India. Naturally, I was compelled to buy it since I cannot resist any travel title. 

The next title that I found also turned out to be a travel title but a different kind of travel title, the type I like very much. I spotted a beautiful copy of ‘Out of Poverty’ by John Stackhouse, a Penguin title that I picked up without hesitating a moment. It is about the lives of the poor in different countries and how they go about their lives. The copy I found seemed to have an interesting journey. The original price according to the sticker is Rs.395, and the price on another sticker of Blossom Book House of Bengaluru is Rs.250. I got it for Rs.100!

I like to find and read all the titles by William Trevor, a writer I am in awe of because of the stories he narrates in a language that is unmatched. I have ‘Love in Summer’ but last Sunday I spotted a copy of ‘Death in Summer’ by William Trevor that I almost missed. I got this title also for a hundred rupees. 

Only a few days back when I saw a Tweet about Thomas Bernhard’s titles and how good a writer he was I wondered when I would find his books, and certainly didn’t expect it to find one in Hyderabad at least not a second hand copy. But that’s exactly what happened last Sunday making me feel that I was one lucky bibliophile. On the way back from Abids I usually stop at the three sellers at Chikkadpally and last Sunday I almost did not stop because I had bought three titles at Abids, also I was getting late for lunch as my family would be waiting for me. But I thought I’d stop for a moment and take a quick look at one of the sellers. This was one lucky decision since I spotted a copy of ‘Gargoyles’ by Thomas Bernhard, my heart almost stopping when I saw the name ‘Thomas Bernhard’ on the cover. It was an unbelievable find and to top it the copy was a brand new one that I got for just a hundred rupees. I couldn’t wait to get home to take a good look at it. 

The Sunday Haul (on 05-03-2023)

On Sundays my routine remains the same. I visit Abids after breakfast at home to look for books laid out on the pavements every Sunday. Like all Sundays it was the same this time too and as usual I came home with a handful of books. I found three nice titles last Sunday at Abids and these are the ones. 

 

At a seller who stocks used books that look almost new and that too some latest titles I found two wonderful titles. The first was a copy of ‘Modern African Stories’ edited by Charles R. Larson that was in mint condition. Somehow, I feel that I already have a copy of this title but I bought it because of its excellent condition. 

 

The other title I found with the same seller was a copy of ‘A Curtain of Green’ by Eudora Welty, one of the many Penguin titles that he had displayed on his makeshift bookshelves. It is a collection of her short stories. I got this title too for a hundred rupees. 

 

The third and last title I found in a heap of books selling for just twenty rupees. I picked up a copy of ‘Shatter’ by John Farris and decided to buy it based on Stephen King’s blurb on the cover that said ‘America’s premier novelist of terror’ that continued on the back cover too. I plan to start reading it tonight itself. 

The Sunday Haul (on 26-02-2023)

The summer season is well on its way in Hyderabad though February is not yet done with. It was uncomfortably warm last Sunday in Hyderabad when I set out for Abids. I came home with five titles when I had actually planned not to buy more than one title. But that’s Abids for you; it throws titles that I simply cannot leave behind without buying them.  

 Since a long time I’ve been planning to find out more about philosophy especially Indian philosophical thought but have been baulking thinking I wouldn’t be able to understand such a dense subject as it is beyond my limited brains. But last Sunday after I saw a hardcover copy of ‘The Problematic and Conceptual Structure of Classical Indian Thought about Man, Society, and Polity’ by Daya Krishna, I thought let me make a beginning with this title and bought it. I paid a hundred rupees for this title that seems to be some kind of an academic book. 

The second find at Abids last Sunday was a copy of ‘Keep it Real’ by Lee Gutkind, a book on writing creative non-fiction. It was a slim book and Lee Gutkind seemed kind of familiar name that I had come across in writing magazines, I think. Slim though the book was it didn’t come cheap at two hundred rupees. 

 When I spotted the copy of ‘The Madras Mag Anthology of Contemporary Writing’ edited by Krupa Ge that had an attractive cover I decided to buy it whatever the cost. I got it for a hundred rupees and after I got home and opened it, I found not only a beautiful bookmark but a few of the authors who had contributed to the anthology had also signed on one of the inside pages. I could make out the signatures of Sharanya Manivannan and also MR Sharan. 

I love everything published by the venerable Sahitya Akademi. They publish translations of stories and novels of little-known writers in different parts of India and the books are very modestly priced. Sometime back I had found copies of ‘Contemporary Indian Short Stories-Series I, II & III’ by Sahitya Akademi. Last Sunday I found a beautiful copy of ‘Contemporary Indian Short Stories-Series I’ by Sahitya Akademi that I had forgotten I already have but bought it anyway. There are fifteen stories in this series, by Ismat Chugtai, Bhabani Bhattacharya, Kalindi Charan Panigrahi, Dhumketu, Masti Venkatesa Iyengar and others. 

 I had been looking for a decent copy of Fowler’s ‘Modern English Usage’ that I can afford since a long time and at last I found a nice copy but the price was a ridiculous thirty rupees. I couldn’t believe it since such books especially dictionaries and the like are not available for less than a hundred rupees at Abids.