The Sunday Haul (on 12-10-2025)

 Coming back to Hyderabad after a two-day outstation trip felt different as if seeing the city anew. It was a bright and sunny morning last Sunday at Hyderabad when I left home to go to the Abids second-hand book market. I saw a nice copy of ‘If On a Winter’s Night a Traveller’ by Italo Calvino but I did not buy it as I had bought one only a couple of Sundays back. Also the title I had seen the previous Sunday about hunting tigers and wildlife was gone! I regretted not buying it then.

I got a call from a friend that other friends were waiting for me at Star of Indian café. So I hurried there first and had a long talk with them about books and publishing. One of the friends I made recently was a publisher of books in Telugu who showed me the two titles he would be going for printing in a couple of days. Another new friend was a scriptwriter in the Telugu film industry and was quite enthusiastic about reading. He showed me the more than half a dozen titles of Telugu novels he had picked up. Another new friend I met last Sunday was a young Telugu writer who had already published a book. It made me a bit envious of all the things they were doing whereas I was struggling with my second book since more than four years. I wonder when I will be able to finish it, and also hope that this book won’t take two decades to finish like my first book.

After nearly an hour’s talk I set out to look for titles to buy. I saw a copy of ‘The Prabhakaran Saga: The Rise and Fall of an Eelam Warrior’ by S. Murari with a beautiful cover that I immediately bought. I have been following the civil war in Sri Lanka since a long time and I thought this book would fill some gaps in my knowledge and understanding of the issue. S. Murari, the author, is a journalist who has covered the conflict in Sri Lanka.

A long time ago I had found a copy of ‘Republican Party Reptile’ by P.J. O’ Rourke that I enjoyed reading because he is a writer of some good humour. So when I saw a copy of ‘Holidays in Hell’ by P.J. O’ Rourke I decided to buy it though I had seen copies of it earlier too but somehow did not feel like buying. I got it for fifty rupees.