The Sunday Haul (on 25.08.2025)

 During the monsoon naturally it rains and so there’s nothing anyone can do about it. But the only day I do not want it to rain is on a Sunday. Luckily for me it didn’t rain last Sunday when I set out for Abids. It was cloudy, though. Since last November when I fractured my right shoulder bone in a minor accident I am travelling by bus and avoiding riding the two-wheeler. Until recently I used to travel on a different route, partly by bus and partly by Uber Moto. Recently I discovered a different route where I could get a bus that would drop me near home. So I changed my Abids routine starting from Chikkadpally instead of the other way around.

 

Last Sunday I began my browsing first at RTC Crossroads where there is a seller at the junction. Here I found a copy of ‘Woodworm’ by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay with a lovely cover that I got for fifty rupees. Then onwards to Chikkadpally where I saw nothing worth buying. 

Later I got dropped at Abids, and after the customary chai at the Irani café I saw a copy of ‘In Transit’ by Mavis Gallant, a collection of short stories by this wonderful Canadian writer. I got this too for fifty rupees only. 

 

Then with another seller near Bata in a heap of books selling for Rs.50 I found a copy of ‘Respected Sir’ by Naguib Mahfouz, the Nobel laureate from Egypt, that I was thrilled to find. 

Then in the same heap I found a copy of ‘The Story of a Seaside Village’ by Thoppil Mohammed Meeran that appeared very interesting. Both these books are slim volumes that one can finish reading in a few hours. 

 

The other week I saw an ad by The Hindu Group of Publications about some of their books in The Hindu paper. One of the books was ‘Ashokamitran: Beyond Fiction’ that I ordered because Ashokamitran is one of my favourite writers and I wanted to know what this book was. It was delivered the other day, and I am thrilled to find so many pieces by Ashokamitran that I haven’t read. 

The Sunday Haul (on 18.08.2024)

 It was very sunny and also hot in Hyderabad last Sunday. Since the couple of days the weather has been like this, hot and humid in the morning and thunderstorms with heavy rains in the late afternoon or evening.  Even as I was about to leave after completing my browsing and picking up three wonderful titles the sky became dark with clouds as if it is going to rain heavily but it did not. 

The first title I found was a copy of ‘Seven Pillars of Wisdom’ by TE Lawrence, a title that I already have though I could not locate it when I wanted to read it. The copy I saw last Sunday was a different edition and had a beautiful cover but it seemed to be have been pressed to one side. On the whole it was in good condition and I did not want to leave it behind. I was pleased when the seller asked for only fifty rupees for this book.

On way my home I did not want to stop at the last seller as I had not bought anything from him since a long time since he had the same books I’ve been seeing since quite a long time. Last Sunday the seller, a young fellow, stopped me and told me to take a look at the books he had in a sack. Though impatient to leave as it was getting quite late I decided to see what he had as he took out the books one by one from the sack and showed them to me. 

 

When I saw the copy of ‘Understanding the Muslim Mind’ by Rajmohan Gandhi I wanted to take it. I had bought another title by the same author not long ago and though I had not read it I wanted this title by him too. 

The other book I took was a Penguin Classics edition of ‘Odyssey’ by Homer tr: E.V. Rieu who was also editor of Penguin Classics for more than two decades. I am embarrassed to reveal that I have not read this classic work till date and promised myself to begin reading it since I have at last bought it. When I got home and showed my son the books I had bought he told me I already have a copy of ‘Odyssey’ that surprised me since I do not remember buying it earlier. 

The Sunday Haul (on 11-08-2024)

  Last Sunday it was again sunny and bright with no sign of cloud or rain which was something I hoped for since I would be going to the second-hand book bazaar at Abids. Though I had planned to go at my usual time I had to go a bit earlier because Hari had said he would be there with a box of books to give away to one of the sellers. After he gave away the carton and a bag of books, we sat in the Star of India café and had chota samosa and chai over a conversation that we have been having ever since we met way back in 1996.

 

Just before I met Hari I managed to find two good titles. The first title I found was a copy of ‘Spider’ by Michael Morley that was a crime fiction title that I love to read and also it was a Penguin title. So I picked it up hoping it would be a good read though I had not heard of the author before but I bought it because it was a Penguin book. I got it for eighty rupees.

 

The next title I found was an almost new copy of ‘The Conscience of a Liberal’ by Michael Krugman, the famous economist whose columns appear in many dailies worldwide. It stood out with its attractive cover and I bought it for a hundred rupees. I sometimes like to read about subjects I am not very interested in but am curious to know on the surface. I hope it is something I would find interesting. 

 

Narendra Luther is a name many Hyderabadis will be familiar with since he was a well-known writer who has written several books about history of Hyderabad and its past rulers. Other than that he was a senior and respected IAS officer who also served as the Chief Secretary of united Andhra Pradesh. I saw him a couple of times in literary gatherings when he was active. He had a tremendous sense of humour. Though I haven’t read his books I remember he used to write occasional pieces in the local papers. Anyway, I saw a nice copy of ‘A Bonsai Tree’ by Narendra Luther at Chikkadpally. It was his autobiography and was a hardcover. I got it for a hundred rupees. 

The Sunday Haul (on 04-08-2024)

 There have been no rains in Hyderabad since the past few days and it did not rain on Sunday too. In fact, it was bright and sunny in the morning on Sunday when I set out. First I stopped at Chikkadpally and found two wonderful titles. 

The first find was ‘Goa Travels’ edited by Manohar Shetty that was a collection of articles by visitors to Goa and travelers of yore when Goa was under Portugese rule. The introduction by the famous writer and poet of Goa, Manohar Shetty, gives a wonderful account of the background of the articles in the collection. I feel lucky to have found it. 

 

‘Things Fall Apart’ by Chinua Achebe is one of my favorite books that I love so much that I buy each and every copy I come across. This copy that I bought at Chikkadpally last Sunday must be my tenth or eleventh copy, and one that has the iconic cover. It is in good condition and I paid one hundred and fifty rupees for both these titles. 

 

At Abids that I reached on an Uber moto, I found a copy of ‘Seven Summers’ by Mulk Raj Anand, and it says ‘Confessional Story’ on the cover. On the back cover I read that it was a ‘Mayfair Paperbacks: A division of Arnold-Heinemann. This 1987 edition published and printed in India has that font that I’ve always found to be extremely readable though I have no idea which font it is.

 

Since I had come earlier than my usual time I had finished going around all the booksellers and thought I’d drop in at the Best Books second hand bookstore down the street. Here I found a wonderful travel title about Southern Africa. It was a Penguin title and was in good condition. It was a copy of ‘The Electronic Elephant: A Southern African Journey’ by Dan Jacobson. However I had to shell out two hundred and fifty rupees for it. 

The Sunday Haul (on 28-07-2024)

 After almost ten days at last the sun was out in Hyderabad last Sunday. Then there was the festive air due to the Bonalu festival all which got me out of the gloomy mood that had persisted all through the days when it rained and when it didn’t rain but was cloudy. 

 

I first began with Chikkadpally this Sunday too, and there I found a copy of ‘Good English: How to Write It’ by G.H. Vallins that I had seen the previous Sunday. I already have a copy of this book but am unable to find it so I bought this second copy. 

 

Then I went to Abids and the first title I found was a good copy of ‘The Magic Mountain’ by Thomas Mann, a Penguin edition that I got for only fifty rupees. It runs into almost seven hundred pages of close print and I don’t know when I will find the time to read it. 

 

The next find was a nice copy of ‘The Club Dumas’ by Arturo Perez-Reverte, and right beside it was a copy of ‘The Collected Works of AJ Fikry’ by Gabrielle Zevin both that I got for a hundred and fifty rupees. Both these titles seemed to be book related and I was glad I found them. 

 

The last title was another book that I want to read to improve my writing. I found a beautiful copy of “The Random House Handbook’ by Frederick Crews. In the introduction it says that it is for ‘student writers’ and though I am no student I want to learn to write which was reason enough to buy it. There’s one seller in Abids who tells me to give whatever I want to pay for it instead of quoting me a price. So I paid him a hundred rupees for this title and he seemed satisfied.