The monsoon rains have begun in this part of the world, though it isn’t raining regularly in Hyderabad. There have been some good rains in the past two weeks but last Sunday when I went to Abids it was sunny, bright and a bit hot. Though I thought I would buy only one book as my shelves are overflowing with lots and lots of books I ended up four books last Sunday at Abids.
I did not find anything before I had the usual cup of chai in the Star of India Irani café. This is one part of my Sunday routine I enjoy a lot, sitting in the café sipping the chai and wondering for how long I will be coming here and picking up books. I’ve been coming to Abids for more than forty years now. Nothing much has changed about the Abids Sunday second hand book market except the faces of the sellers. Some of the old ones are gone and in their places have come their grown up children. With these thoughts I finally got up and stepped out of the café wondering what I will find on the pavements.
I don’t think there’s anyone who doesn’t know what Hitler did. Though I have read here and there about the genocide I haven’t found anything about how it all happened. So, when I found a copy of ‘The Face of the Third Reich’ by Joachim C. Fest I realized it would fill in some of the details missing in my knowledge.
With the same seller I saw a copy of ‘Together’ by Vivek H. Murthy that I have read about somewhere recently. I think I had read an interview of Vivek H. Murthy the previous Sunday that came in The Hindu. Anyway, I am very interested in what people do, what happens to them in certain situations, how they behave and so on which is the only reason I picked up this very interesting book. I got these two book at hundred rupees each.
Some years ago I had found a nice copy of 'Slouching Towards Bethlehem’ by Joan Didion that I also managed to read soon afterwards. Last Sunday when I came across another copy I did not hesitate to buy it because it is a fantastic book, and the copy I saw had the cover pages encased in a plastic jacket. It was too tempting so I bought it as the seller asked for just fifty rupees for it.
Somehow I have not read a graphic book so far though I picked up a copy of ‘Persepolis’ by Marjane Satrapi a couple of months back. Earlier some years ago I had come across a copy of ‘Maus’ that I was foolish not to have bought when I saw it. Anyway, last Sunday I saw a copy of ‘Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children’ by Ransom Riggs. It was a hardcover book that was almost brand new and though I had heard of this title I did not have any idea of what it was about. After a few moments of hesitation I bought it for a hundred rupees.
No comments:
Post a Comment