Friday Double Post- Post 1 of 2: The Haul at Kolkata

Last week I had been to Kohima in Nagaland to attend a workshop there. I had planned my return trip in such a way that I would get to spend about six hours in Kolkata. I wanted to visit College Street that I had been dreaming about after reading a lot about the book sellers there. Last Thursday finally I was at College Street. It was a momentous occasion for me as it has taken several year for me to be here.

After landing at Kolkata from Dimapur around three in the afternoon we rented a cab and took off for College Street. I had been told that there would be heavy traffic and was advised to start for the airport about three hours before my flight. So I had an eye on the time and another eye on the books in the numerous stalls on College Street. I hadn’t done much research so missed out on some things. For example I did not know that India Coffee House was somewhere around where I could have stopped for a cup of coffee.

However, I managed to find five good titles after looking around for a couple of hours. Almost all the book stalls in College Street seemed to sell only textbooks so I had to search for stalls that sold general books. Luckily I was guided to such stalls sporting boards that said ‘English Literature’ where I picked up the books. In all the articles I read about the book sellers of College Street the sellers were described as people who knew a lot about books and would be able to get almost any title that you asked for. They may have been more knowledgeable than the book sellers in Abids here in Hyderabad but they were not as knowledgeable as I thought they’d be. I had a list of titles and also authors whose books I wanted to read and that I thought I might get at College Street. In my list were Kapuscinski, Lorrie Moore, Lydia Davis, and others. But other than Arun Joshi’s ‘The Foreigner’ they did not have any title in my list which was a big disappointment.

In one stall I found two titles on writing that I already have. I found a paperback copy of ‘What I Talk About When I Talk About Running’ by Haruki Murakami, and yet another copy of ‘The Summing Up’ by Somerset Maugham. I got the two titles for a hundred rupees each. The next find was a copy of ‘Collected Lyrics’ by Edna St Vincent Millay. The first ever book I had bought in my life way back in 1993 was a hardbound copy of ‘Twentieth Century American Poetry’ edited by Conrad Aiken. One of the numerous poets featured in this book was Edna St Vincent Millay. It was my first serious encounter with good poetry other than the stuff I read in school. ‘Renascence’ was one of the three poems by St Vincent Millay that was in this collection. I was glad to buy the copy of ‘Collected Lyrics’ by Edna St Vincent Millay but I think I made a big mistake not buying the mammoth copy of Allen Ginsberg’s verse that I saw at the same stall. It wasn’t in such a good condition and it was one reason why I did not buy it apart from the fact it was rather too heavy.

Another interesting title I found was a nice copy of ‘Which Lie Did I Tell?’ by William Goldman that was a sequel to his famous ‘Adventures in the Screen Trade.’ I had bought a hard cover copy of this many years ago, long before I began this blog. I bought the hardcover copy of ‘What Lie Did I Tell?’ for a hundred and fifty rupees in the stall that also had many other movie-related titles. Unfortunately a few days later I read about Goldman’s death.

Another interesting find was a copy of ‘Etruscan Places’ by DH Lawrence that was one of the travel titles that I had been looking for. I was overjoyed to find this title that I got for a hundred rupees. It was this book that I started reading this book in the plane taking me to Hyderabad.
At College Street I did not bargain much and shelled out whatever the sellers asked for. I found these sellers to be very polite, and deferential after they realized that I was a serious buyer. I wish I had more time to see each and every stall but that would require at least one full day. I had someone with me who wasn’t very interested in books and was impatient as I hopped from one stall to another. I did not want to make him unhappy so I reluctantly stopped midway and got into the cab satisfied that I had been to College Street. I wonder when I will get to visit it again. After having been to Darya Ganj in New Delhi only recently, College Street in Kolkata last week it is Mumbai’s Flora Fountain that I want to go next to look for more books.