The Sunday Haul (on 26-05-2024)

It was another hot day last Sunday in Hyderabad. Though not as hot as it was two weeks earlier it was hot enough to have me wear a cap before I set off for Abids. Since I haven’t yet begun riding my two-wheeler due to the fracture in the collar bone I in November I am taking a ride on Uber or Rapido bikes. So, I got to Abids a little before noon and began to feel at home amidst all the books lying on the pavements. I have no doubt saying that I will come to Abids every Sunday of my remaining life. I can never give up the habit.

 

Anyway, Telugu was third language at school so I can read Telugu quite well. I had bought a couple of Telugu novels in the past, those that were famous, and also finished reading them. Though I want to read other books in Telugu I am not able to since I am a slow reader when it comes to Telugu because I do not know the meanings of many Telugu words. Anyway, last Sunday I spotted a non-fiction title by a famous Telugu activist-writer. It was ‘Manava Samajam: Ninna, Nedu, Repu’ by Ranganayakamma, a hardcover copy of essays, articles, letters by her that I decided to buy and read. In fact, I read one essay while sitting in the Star of India Irani café while having a cup of chai. 

 

Recently I had taken out the copy of ‘The End of Suffering’ by Pankaj Mishra after I read about it in ‘The Groaning Shelf’ by Pradeep Sebastian. But I am yet to begin reading it and plan to read it sometime next week. So, while I am waiting to read it I came across another Pankaj Mishra title- ‘From the Ruins of Empire’ that was a hardcover copy. I had not come across this title so I bought it. 

 

Arun Joshi is my favorite writer and there’s no doubt about it. He’s written half a dozen books, all of them novels except ‘The Survivors’ which is a collection of short stories. I have all his titles: The Foreigner, The Apprentice, The Strange Case of Billy Biswas, The River and the City, and The Last Labyrinth. I have multiple copies of these books and these are the editions published by Orient in the 70’s. I love finding these old editions and last Sunday I found another old edition of ‘The Apprentice’ by Arun Joshi, my second such copy. I bought it for just thirty rupees!

I had also seen a copy of a non-fiction title by Tom Wolfe that was in beautiful condition but I did not buy it as I felt I had bought enough books. I plan to buy it next Sunday if it is still available.