The Sunday Haul (on 20-09-2026)

 

There are quite a few books about Hyderabad, the city where I live, but I have found only a couple of them, not more than four or give. I have Syeda Imam's 'The Untold Charminar', Vanaja Banagiri's 'Hyderabad Haazir Hai', and also 'Hyderabad: a Biography' by Narendra Luther, and of course, Serish Nanisetti's 'Golconda Bagnagar Hyderabad'. Last Sunday I found a copy of 'Bhagmati: Why Hyderabad's Lost Queen is the Soul of the City' by Moupia Basu that I had read about somewhere recently. It was a new copy that I got for a little more than a hundred rupees.

            A month or so ago I had spotted a copy of 'On China' by Henry Kissinger, a Penguin title, with a seller near the GPO. It was in terrible condition, with black fungus on the pages, pages that were damaged due to moisture, and not worth buying so I put it back. However, I knew that it was a good book about China, and felt I should have bought it. For the next few Sundays I did not find it and thought someone must have picked it up. I regretted not buying it since it was the content that mattered not the condition of the book. I got a pleasant surprise when I saw the same copy with the same seller last Sunday. This time I grabbed it, and added it to my collection of titles on China that I will all read one day.  

            There's one seller who pleads with me to buy any book from his pile that I pick up and put back after I check it out. I happened to look at the copy of 'Newly Weds' by Nell Freudenberger that he had before him and a few moments after I put it back he came running after me with the book in his hand and literally begged me to buy it and pay whatever I wanted just like he did a couple of Sundays ago. I had to buy it, of course, for his sake and also because it was a Penguin title that is almost a guarantee that it is a good read. 

None of my friends had turned up at Abids last Sunday so I sat alone in Star of India cafe, and sipped on a cup of chai while reading the Preface in Henry Kissinger's 'On China'  I had read a couple of essays mentioning G.N. Devy, who I learnt was a linguist and also read an essay by him somewhere recently. When I spotted the copy of 'After Amneisia: Tradition and Change in Indian Literary Criticism' by G.N. Devy. with the seller under the tree beside Star of India I took it out. A slim volume that was almost new, I read on the cover 'Winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award 1993' and decided to buy it. I got it for just hundred rupees. 

The Sunday Haul (on 13-09-2026)

 It had rained quite heavily on the night of Saturday and well into the morning of last Sunday. I had thought the visit to Abids would be a washout due to the rain. But somehow the rain stopped by eight in the morning of Sunday though the sky was overcast. I thought I would go to Abids anyway so I left around eleven in the morning and as usual stopped at Chikkadpally where I found a title I had seen a decade ago. 

Almost a decade ago when my friend Uma used to accompany me to Abids we saw a nice copy of 'First Draft' by B.G. Verghese with a seller who was usually rude and rather mannerless. That day he wasn't there when we spotted the book and the kid who was there gave it to us for I think a hundred rupees. As we were walking away the seller came running behind us and told us to return the book. I told him we had already bought it but he was adamant that we had cheated the kid. Upset at that allegation we returned the book and walked away. Since that day I did not see a copy until last Sunday when I spotted another copy and bought it for two hundred and fifty rupees that I did not mind paying as it was a good book.

 At Abids some of the sellers were missing maybe the threat of rain kept them away. But the other sellers were there and sometime a little before I left I spotted a nice copy of 'Beyond a Boundary' by C.L.R. James. I already have a copy that I had found sometime early last year but this copy had a different cover and also looked too good to miss. So I picked it up for two hundred rupees and returned home. 

The Sunday Haul (on 06-09-2026)

The previous Sunday I had seen a nice copy of  'Why Read the Classics?' by Italo Calvino with a seller beside the Star of India cafe, that I did not buy. The reason is that I already have a copy and so did not want another one though I was strongly tempted to pick it up. That day I felt pleased with myself that I had resisted temptation and had not thrown money on buying another copy of a title I already had. However last Sunday when I noticed that the title was still on the shelf unsold I felt sadness and pity for it and decided to take it home with me. The reason I gave myself for buying was that this copy had a different cover, and an attractive one at that, than the one I had at home. 

Somehow again I ended up buying a second copy of a title that I bought recently and that I haven't yet read. A short time ago, less than a year back, I bought a copy of 'Making an Elephant: Writing from Within' by Graham Swift online, on a sale on WhatsApp group of a seller for a couple of hundred rupees I think that I thought was expensive but I justified the purchase because it was a title about writing.  Then last Sunday in a pile of books on a table with a board saying 'Rs.100' I spotted the title on the spine and took it out. When it was coming so cheap why shouldn't I buy? I told myself and took it. 

Somehow autobiographies and memoirs by writers are something I cannot resist buying especially if they haappen to be by Indian writers. When I saw a copy of 'An Unfinished Autobiography' by Indira Goswami in a heap of books selling for Rs.50 I grabbed it. I had read one title by Indira Goswami a long time back and thought I would know more about her in her autobiography. It was translated from the Assamese by P. Kotoky. 

I had been seeing this title since many years but did not buy thinking it would be of no use. But then when I opened the pages of 'A Glossary of Literary Terms' by M.H. Abrams that I saw with another seller, and read a few entries I realized that it would help me a lot in understanding literary criticism that I often read. I got it for just fifty rupees. 

I have a list of titles and writers I haven't found yet and am desperate to find. Sometimes I think I will never find them, such as 'The Palm Wine Drunkard' by Amos Tutuola, which I am sure I will never find at Abids or anywhere else. In that list was Tove Ditlevsen about whose books I read only high praise and was on my list of writers I haven't yet found. So when I saw a copy of 'Childhood, Youth, Dependency' by Tove Ditlevsen on a creaky wooden shelf with a seller near the GPO I tried not to show my excitement when I asked the seller to take the book out. The cover was a lovely one and I was ready to pay whatever the seller asked but somehow got it at a price lower than what I had expected the seller to ask. 

A lucky day for me with a few good titles in the Sunday haul. 

The Sunday Haul (on 30-08-2026)

 

Last Sunday I had an important visitor to show around Abids. It was an editor of an online newssite, who came along with two others but had a short time to look around. After a quick round of chai at Star of India we went to the Best Books store, and shortly afterwards they left. Then I began my browsing and managed to find three titles. 

The first find was an old copy of 'The Go-Between' by LP Hartley that I already have at home. But it was too good to leave behind so I picked it up for fifty rupees. I bought this Penguin edition with an interesting cover, and the copy though old was in good condition. 

After the visitors left I met another friend who is a regular at Abids but reads only Telugu books. he showed me a title that I should buy. It was a nice copy of 'Yatrasmriti' by Dasharathi Krishnama Charyulu, a renowned writer in Telangana. It is a memoir and that was made me buy it but I do not know when I will read it as I can only read Telugu slowly. 

A little later I spotted a large sized book, a copy of 'Amritha Sher Gill- Painting mein Kavitha- Haiku' a Hindi title by Dr.Neelam Varma. I bought it because it had a lot of paintings by this renowned painter. I got it for hundred rupees. 

Another interesting title I found was a copy of 'epitaph for a peach: four seasons on my family farm' by David Mas Masumoto that the previous owner wrapped in clear plastic jacket. It was a copy from the library of St.Francis College for Women, Secunderabad that I got pretty cheap. I have a few titles like this one, like Peter Mayle's 'A Year in Provence' and also 'Under the Tuscan Sun' by Frances Mayes. 

The Sunday Haul (on 23-08-2026)

 

It had rained on Saturday night and early in the morning too it was cloudy as if it was going to rain later in the day. The forecast was for rain on Sunday as well as Monday. But somehow it did not rain though the sky was overcast all day. As usual I started off my trip to the Sunday second-hand book market at Abids with the first stop at Chikkadpally. But before walking to Chikkadpally I stopped at the seller in the corner at RTC Crossroads. 

I have only two titles on China, a country I wish to know about in detail especially its history.  I think it is a fascinating country to know more about so when I saw a copy of 'China: From the Opium Wars to the 1911 Revolution' by Jean Chesneaux, Marannie Bastid, Marie-Claire Bergere I picked it up. I had seen this title the previous Sunday but had not bought it feeling it was like a textbook. But last Sunday when I looked at closely and also skimmed through some pages I decided it was worth reading. 

Caste is what is keeping our country backward. I have about ten titles on caste by different authors that I picked up over the years but hadn't yet read. My plan is to read all the titles on different topics like China, the Middle East, Africa at one go so I can have a complete idea about the issue. I plan to read al the titles on caste at one time and keep adding titles whenever I find them. When I saw the copy of 'The Persistence of Caste: The Khairlanji Murders & India's Hidden Apartheid' by Anand Teltumbde whose essays I have read in newspapers, I picked it up though I had to shell out a hundred and fifty rupees for it. 

I do not remember where but I read that 'Njal's Saga' was a classic and did not think much about it as it was a book set in Iceland and also that I thought I wouldn't find. But last Sunday I was pleasantly shocked when I saw a copy of 'Njal's Saga', a 'Wordsworth Classics of World Literature' edition, and even more shocked when the seller said fifty rupees when I asked the price. 

After chai at 'Star of India' with a friend I stepped out to look at the titles with the seller just beside the cafe. I spotted 'Easy Riders Raging Bulls' by Peter Biskind with an eye-catching cover that I took out to take a close look, and then decided to buy it. I got it for a hundred rupees only. 

The Sunday Haul (on 16-08-2026)

 Another bright and sunny morning on the Sunday following Independence Day which might be a reason why there was a higher than average crowd at Abids browsing the books laid out on the pavement. 

But before reaching Abids I stopped at Chikkadpally and picked up a title I had seen the previous Sunday. I bought the copy of 'Annie John' by Jamaica Kincaid with an attractive cover. It is a slim novel.  

Next find was a copy of 'Screenplay: Foundations of Screenwriting' by Syd Field that I already have a copy of. I wanted to find out how much I would have to pay for it and asked the seller. When he said a hundred rupees I thought it was cheaper and so bought my second copy of this book. 

The best haul of Sunday was the copy of 'Modern India: 1885-1947' by Sumit Sarkar who had passed away earlier in the week. I had seen so many tributes to him on social media and I wondered why I had not heard much about him before. 

        A couple of years ago someone got in touch with me and asked if I would find a copy of 'Dibs in Search of Self' by Virginia M. Axline at Abids for her. Until then I used to see copies regularly but I searched for it in vain until I found it a few weeks later and sent it to her. Last Sunday when I saw another copy I decided to buy it and keep it with me in case someone else needed a copy. 

Some years ago I had found a copy of 'My Several Worlds' by Pearl S. Buck that I read and later got lost in my collection. I wanted to read it again but couldn't locate the copy so when I spotted another similar copy I picked it up. When I asked the seller how much it was he told me to pay whatever I wished to. This kind of thing puts me in a bind and I end up paying more than what I think the book is. I paid a hundred rupees for this old copy. 

'A little after I found Pearl S. Buck's autobiography I spotted the worlds 'Chinese Literature' June 1952' on the cover of a book on a makeshift shelf of a seller near the Bata store. I looked at it as it is very rare to find English versions of Chinese literature and so bought it. Inside there were pages of wonderful colour paintings. 

The Sunday Haul (on 09-08-2026)

         On Saturday night there was a heavy downpour that continued for a few hours and I thought it would go on raining on Sunday also. But luckily it didn't and it was a sunny and bright Sunday morning when I started for the second-hand book bazaar at Abids, in the heart of Hyderabad. But first I had to check out the sellers at Chikkadpally. At one of the seller I found a copy of 'The Sandglass' by Romesh Gunesekere that I picked up instead of the Jamaica Kincaid collection of stories that I had seen the previous Sunday and that I told myself I would pick up next Sunday. I hope it is there until then. 

        There are a few sellers at Abids with whom I have an occasional chat. Last Sunday one seller literarally pleaded with me to pick up at least one book from his pile spread on the pavement, and also pay whatever I wanted for it. It was an unusual request. He had also said that I hadn't bought anything from him since a long time so I decided to pick up one title. For a long time I had been seeing the copy of 'We Indians' by Khushwant Singh with him and I picked it up. 

        Another title I had seen a couple of months back and had failed to buy it was 'How to Be a Writer' by Ruskin Bond that I saw again in a bunch of books laid on a table and on sale for hundred rupees. I bought and a few minutes later found another copy with another seller, a good copy that I could have got cheaper. 

            I already have a copy of 'The Travels of Marco Polo', an Everyman Library hardcover edition that I had bought in 2025 I think but when I saw another copy with a beautiful dark blue cover with a painting on it I bought it. Not that it was in a heap of Rs.30 books near Bata but because of the cover. 

So this is how bibliophiles like me end up buying multiple copies!

The Sunday Haul (on 02-08-2026)

 The blog enters the second decade. I've completed nineteen years of this blog last Friday.

After a few days of cloudy weather and downpours in the city it was a bright and sunny morning in Hyderabad last Sunday. It was perfect weather for being outdoors. I set out for Abids after breakfast of a nice rava dosa in Snehitha restaurant under the RTC X Roads metro station. First stop was at Chikkadpally where I found all the four titles of the Sunday haul. 

The first title I found was a nice copy of 'Rethinking Democracy' by Rajni Kothari. I had heard Rajni Kothari's name since a long time but haven't read anything by him. So finding this book on democracy in India feels like a lucky find. 

Minutes later I spotted a copy of 'Nationalism without a Nation in India' by G. Aloysius, a new name for me. Described as 'a sociological interpretation of modern Indian history', it sounded too interesting to ignore. I bought it since I want to read it right away. I got these books for a hundred rupees each. 

An online friend had told me about finding the first edition copy of 'Himalayan Blunder: Curtain Raiser to the Sino-Indian War of 1962' by Brigadier J.P. Dalvi, and said it was a wonderful book. She also said it was a hard to find book so I did not expect it to find it soon and also I was rather uninterested in reading such stuff. Imagine my surprise when I saw the same book peeking out from behind another title with a seller in Chikkadpally. It was an almost brand new copy though it was a 1970 edition published by Natraj and also had a foreword by Frank Moraes. 

Right beside it was another interesting title that I picked up to check. It was a hardcover book with 'The Blood Telegram: India's Secret War in East Pakistan' by Gary J. Bass on the cover. I sensed it was a good book since there was a blurb on the front cover by Philip Gourevitch. I got these two books for five hundred rupees. 

The Sunday Haul (on 26-07-2026)

 I had returned home early morning on Sunday after three days of travel and a few hours later set off for Abids to forage for second-hand titles on the pavements.

I bought 'Boulder' by Eva Baltasar tr by Julia Sanches on a hunch though it was on the cover that it was shortlisted for The International Booker Prize in 2023. A slim, short book I got it for just fifty rupees only. 

On a Sunday in May, 2024 I had found a hardcover copy of 'From the Ruins of Empire: The Revolt Against the West and the Remaking of Asia' by Pankaj Mishra that I am yet to read. Last Sunday I saw another copy, a paperback, but with a different and beautiful cover that I was unable to resist buying though I had to pay a hundred rupees for it. Pankaj Mishra has a way with words that few Indian writers like Mukul Kesavan, Chandrahas Chaudhury possess, especially non-fiction. 

The Sunday Haul (on 12-07-2026)

So late into July there is no sign of the monsoon rains everyone is looking forward to. El Nino is showing its effect and as per forecasts it may not rain until the last week of July. Expectedly it was a sunny, bright but uncomfortably warm morning last Sunday in Hyderabad. My moods weren't exactly normal and I felt like not buying anything at Abids and only wanted to look at the titles and return home empty handed. 

All that resolve vanished when I saw a copy of 'Capitalism: A Ghost Story' by Arundhati Roy at a seller at RTC Crossroads just after getting down from the bus. It is a slim book not more than fifty pages about how capitalism works and gave a few examples relating to India. I finished the book over chai in Star of India later. 

I read the name Hesiod in some book about Greek classics and last Sunday after the chai at Star of India I wandered to the seller beneath the tree where I had found a book the previous Sunday. I spotted a copy of 'Theogony and Works and Days' by Hesiod tr by M.L. West that had a beautiful illustration on the cover. This too was a slim book of less than two hundred pages that I got for hundred rupees. 

I don't know how many copies of 'The Great Railway Bazaar' by Paul Theroux I found all these years and how many copies I gave away. I've bought every copy of this title and other titles by Theroux and so when I saw the copy of 'The Great Railway Bazaar' on the pavement that another person had previously had said he wouldn't give it for less than a hundred and fifty rupees. I saw it for the past two weeks and last Sunday the original seller was there and when I asked he said to give fifty rupees!