The Sunday Haul (on 31-08-2025)

 

It was cloudy last Sunday in Hyderabad though it didn’t rain while I was in Abids until afternoon. Once again, I had a haul of seven books though I had planned to buy just one or two books. 

The first find was a title that first felt like it was a collection of stories for children but ‘Monkey Times and Other Stories’ by Thangam is a collection of real-life experiences, interesting ones, of Thangam, who had written down these in a notebook. I was surprised to read that she had lived in Hyderabad when the book was published in 2003, when she was eighty years old. I got this hardcover title for only thirty rupees.

I had someone, a follower on X, with me so while I showed her a book she might be interested in, I noticed a title I was interested in. It was a copy of ‘Ranjit Singh: Maharaja of the Punjab’ by Khushwant Singh that had a very attractive cover with the portrait of Ranjit Singh. It is a biography that I hope to read sometime soon. 

The next find was another hardcover title- ‘Hyderabad Hazir Hai’ by Vanaja Banagiri, a collection of essays on various aspects of Hyderabad by some notable Hyderabadis like Narendra Luther, Vijay Marur, Mohammad Ali Baig, G. Rajaraman and others with their essays on various aspects of Hyderabad such as its cuisine, art, and even real estate! But the essay I liked most was ‘All Things Hyderabadi’ by Vanaja Banagiri, the editor of the collection, because she covered everything in it- the history, the lingo, clothing, religion, hospitality, architecture etc. 

In a Rs. 50 lot I spotted a copy of ‘Travelling In, Travelling Out’ by Namita Gokhale, a collection of travel essays by Aakar Patel, Jerry Pinto, Navtej Sarna, Urvashi Butalia, and others about their travels. 

Sometime last week I had received a copy of ‘Bombay- A Private View’ by Vinod Mehta that he seemed to have self-published when he was very young. There is a photograph of him on the back cover, complete with long hair and dark glasses. Last Sunday when I saw a nice copy of ‘Lucknow Boy’ by Vinod Mehta, his memoir of his days as a journalist and editor of ‘Outlook’ I picked it up though I already have a copy that I read long time back.

This was one title that has been eluding me since a long time, ever since I read about it. The seller called me and asked me to look in a bag he had. It was filled with some good titles including ‘Churchill’s Secret War’ by Madhusree Mukerjee, one of the two titles I picked out of the bag. I have a copy of ‘The Land of the Naked People’ by the same author that I had first read, only half of it, when I was in Port Blair sometime in 2006. A friend had given it to me and I had to give it back to him after reading only half the book as he was leaving Port Blair. 

The other title that I took out of the bag was a nice copy of ‘An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan’ by Jason Eliot. As the title says it is a travel book. I already have another title by Jason Eliot that I had bought sometime back. I have yet to read it.