The Sunday Haul (on 13-05-2018)

It was neither very hot nor very cool but normal weather last Sunday in Hyderabad. It was good enough weather for a couple of hours browsing in the open at Abids. I had a friend along and that put me in a good mood which further improved after I spotted the first title in the haul. It was a mouth-watering title about something that every true blue Hyderabadi always dreams about twenty four hours of the day-Biryani. I found a nice copy of ‘Biryani’ by Pratibha Karan, a hardcover copy that I had to pay two hundred and fifty rupees to buy. I was surprised to read that Pratibha Karan is an IAS officer, now retired. The book had recipes of more than hundred types of biryani from all corners of the country. Though there doesn’t appear any chance for me to try out some of the recipes in the book I bought it just for the pleasure of owning a beautifully produced book.

Another wonderful find was a copy of ‘Cast Me Out If You Will’ by Lalithambika Antherjanam. I had read about Lalithambika Antherjanam a long time but haven’t read anything written by her. ‘Cast Me Out If You Will’ is a translation from the Malayalam and has an introduction by Gita Krishnankutty. It has a foreword by Susie Tharu and is divided into two parts. Part I has fourteen stories and Part II is the Memoir part with six essays.
These are the fourteen stories in ‘Cast Me Out If You Will’: The Power of Fate; In the Moonlight; The Goddess of Revenge; Admission of Guilt; Within the Folds of Seclusion; Wooden Cradles; The Devi and Her Devotee; Life and Death; A Leaf in the Whirlwind; ‘Come Back’; Daughter of Humanity; The Boon; Fulfillment; Dhirendu Majumdar’s Mother.

The last find was another interesting title. I found an ancient copy of ‘Seven Pillars of Wisdom’ by TE Lawrence that had a tape around its spine. I bought it when I read at the back that ‘No collection of modern classics would be complete without Seven Pillars of Wisdom.’ In one of the inside pages someone had scribbled his name and date which was September 7, 1963 which is about six months before I was born. The copy was around for fifty five years I realized after I bought it for eighty rupees.