The Sunday Haul (on 29-03-2026)

 It was the sort of day when the weather tells you that summer has arrived. It was pretty hot and quite uncomfortable outdoors when I stepped out to go to Abids. I reached Chikkadpally first where I found two good titles. 

The first find was a copy of 'Indira Gandhi: Return of the Red Rose' by K. A. Abbas, published by Orient Paperbacks and I noticed that the price printed on the spine was Rs.3. 'Return of the Red Rose' is a biography of Indira Gandhi, the former Prime Minister of India, and also a sort of chronicle of events in her life that KA Abbas witnessed as a journalist. Coincidentally I spotted another book by KA Abbas on Indira Gandhi by the same publisher though it had a different title I cannot recollect now. If I see it next Sunday I will pick it up.

A long time back I had found and read 'Balkan Ghosts: A Journey through History' by Robert D. Kaplan and found it to be a wonderful read about the background and history of the Balkan nations. I loved it more because it was also a sort of travelogue cum reportage. Last Sunday the second title that I found at Chikkadpally was a beautiful copy of 'The Revenge of Geography' by Robert D. Kaplan that I got for a hundred rupees. 

At Abids in a heap of books being sold three apiece for a hundred rupees I managed to dig out a copy of 'Confrontation: The Middle East War and World Politics' by Walter Laquer. Somehow of late I have grown very interested in knowing about the Middle East and the issues festering there so this 1974 book was a timely find. With this title I have about a dozen titles on the Middle East and I guess it is high time I read all these titles at one go and get an idea about this part of the world that seems to be in a state of permanent unrest.