The Sunday Haul (on 28-04-2019)

It was supposed to be a very hot day. The Meteorological Department had issued a ‘Heatwave Alert’ for two days which included last Sunday. From the fierce heat of the past few days I had expected the sun to be blazing down on my head and frying my small government brain. But surprisingly it was cloudy all morning until nearly one in the afternoon. There was no sun beating down, no sweat pouring down the head, and no great thirst on Sunday. In fact it was quite pleasant and what made it more pleasant that I found five good titles two of which I already have.

In school I studied Hindi and so I can read and write in that language though not as fast as I want. Earlier I had read just two Hindi titles and there was one title I had wanted to read in the language in which it was written and that was ‘Raag Darbari’ that I bought in a bookstore at Nainital sometime last year. Though I haven’t yet begun reading it I still look out for other good Hindi titles and last Sunday I found two of them with the same seller. I found a copy of ‘Laal Tin Ka Chath’ by Nirmal Varma and a good copy of ‘Pratinidhi Kahaniya’ by Muktibodh that I got rather cheap at just twenty rupees each. I don’t know when I will finally get to read these two titles but I am sure going to read them in my life time. Then it was tea time so I sat in the café all alone and leafed through the two books.

After the tea break I spotted a nice book with the covers lovingly encased in thick plastic with the title ‘A Time to Die’ by Parappurathu. It was an English translation of a Malayam novel written by Parappurathu aka K.E. Mathai. The translator is C. Paul Verghese. It is a slim title and appears like one can finish reading it in a couple of hours. One of these days when I am travelling by plane I plan to take it along and finish it before the plane lands.

A few years ago unable to wait to find a copy of Dave Barry’s latest ‘Boogers Are My Beat’ I asked a relative to get a copy. Of course, I started reading it the moment it landed in my hands. That was one of the few new titles by some of my favourite writers I couldn’t wait to read. Last Sunday I saw a copy of ‘Boogers Are My Beat’ by Dave Barry with a seller. It was a hardcover copy and was in perfect condition that I got for just sixty rupees.

Not very long ago I had found a second copy of ‘Bright Book of Life’ by Alfred Kazin and that was sometime last year. I realized after I checked the past blogs that I had bought the first copy some time in 2015. I found the third copy last Sunday that I bought from a heap of books selling for fifty rupees. This copy too was in the same tattered condition that I had found the other copies in. I wonder how long I have to wait before I found a good copy.