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.