The Sunday Haul (on 13.10.2024)

I was down with viral fever since the past two weeks and hence missed going to Abids for two weeks consecutively. However, I recovered and went to Abids last Sunday. Having missed two Sundays I was eager and hoped to pick up a lot of books but ended up buying only two though I saw a few titles that I now feel I should have bought and one among them was ‘The Great Railway Bazaar’ by Paul Theroux that I already have. 

Anyway, I first went to the seller at RTC X Roads and found a copy of ‘Subaltern Studies III: Writings on South Asian History and Society’ edited by Ranajit Guha. I had read about Ranajit Guha and so picked it up though it looked like an academic book. I got it for a hundred rupees.

 

When I saw the copy of ‘Walking the Mountains’ by Wilfred Thesiger later at Abids I was thrilled and bought it right away. I thought I had found another wonderful Thesiger title but when I sat in Star of India and leafed through the book over a cup of chai I realized that I already have a copy of it that I found a while ago. I did not regret buying it because I can always give it to someone who might enjoy reading it. 

On Friday last I had been to the launch of 'Beyond Biryani' by Dinesh C. Sharma, at the Guruswamy Centre in Secunderabad. The book is about Hyderabad and how it developed over the years as described by the author. The distinguished panel who had a discussion later highlighted other aspects of Hyderabad not many knew. I had taken along my son who seemed to have been awed by the attendees and the quality of the discussion. The price is of the book is too steep- Rs.799/, and I hope the book is worth it. I also got the book signed by the author who is also a journalist. 

Hyderabad Book Fair news: I had read in the papers that the annual Hyderabad National Book Fair would be conducted sometime in the second fortnight of December this year. A seller at Abids told me that it could be from December 19-29, 2024. So it is a wait of two more months.