The Sunday Haul (on 21 June 2026)

 It had rained on Saturday evening and continued into the night and so Sunday morning was cool and pleasant. For the first time I kept my cap aside at home and started for Abids via Chikkadpally. There was nothing good with the sellers at Chikkadpally so I went ahead to Abids. Since I have a bus pass I travel by the public buses. It feels good to sit at the window and watch how Hyderabad is changing. One thing I've noticed is that a lot of people look at the books in my hand when I start from home. 

At one of the sellers in front of the GPO at Abids I spotted a copy of 'Against Interpretation and Other Essays' by Susan Sontag on a shelf leaning against a railing. The cover was damaged and inside too some of the pages were damaged by moisture but otherwise all the pages were intact. I hesitated for a few seconds before deciding to take it since one doesn't find Susan Sontag titles very often anywhere. I got this collection of more than twenty five essays for a hundred rupees as the seller climbed down from the price he quoted after I showed him the damaged pages inside. 

A few years ago I had found a copy of 'I Dreamed of Africa' by Kuki Gallman that I found to be an interesting account of a White woman settled in Kenya who is also into wildlife conservation. I was sad to read about the death of her son from snake bite, and also of her husband. It is one of my favorite African books so when I saw a copy of African Nights' by Kuki Gallman I bought it right away without a second thought. 

I've read this title a long time back and there's a copy somewhere on my shelves but when I saw a nice copy of 'A Walk in the Woods' by Bill Bryson I decided to buy it. I got it pretty cheap, at just fifty rupees. It's been a long time since I read anything by Bryson and moreover I needed a few laughs in my life as things aren't looking bright on every front. 

The last title in the haul I found in a heap of books selling for hundred rupees. I found a copy of  'Bhima: Lone Warrior' by M.T. Vasudevan Nair with the title and name of the author in striking read against a white background with a drawing of Bhima holding his mace. It is Bhima's version of events in his own voice. I don't know when I will finally read it but I am glad I found this wonderful title by one of my favourite writers. 

    Last Sunday also happened to be Father's Day. My son surprised me with the gift of a brand new copy of 'A Wonderland of Words' by Shashi Tharoor that I had casually mentioned to him. He ordered it online and I got it the same day on Father's Day. There are a hundred and one essays in it on various aspects of the English language. I plan to read one essay a day and finish in a little more than three months if possible. 

The Sunday Haul (on 14th June 2026)

It had rained heavily on Saturday evening so it was cool on Sunday morning though the rain did not continue. As usual I was on my Sunday trip to Abids to check out the second-hand books on the pavements. At the very first stop at a seller in RTC Crossroads just before Chikkadpally I hit a jackpot. In a heap of books being sold for Rs.50 I spotted two wonderful titles that I grabbed the moment I saw them. 

The first title I saw was a nice copy of 'My Name is Lucy Barton' by Elizabeth Strout. Somehow I lag behind in reading the new writers and their prize winning titles. Strout's 'My Name is Lucy Barton' was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2016. I haven't read anything by Strout but plan to read this less than two hundred pages book one of these days as the print with widely spaced lines shows it can be finished in a day. 

Along side it was a hardcover copy a faber & faber title- 'Mothers' by Jaqueline Rose with the jacket. I don't understand how these two titles ended up here. But whatever it was I was pretty pleased I spotted them. This was the best find of Sunday I thought as I headed for Abids. 

At Abids I spotted a copy of 'Contemporary Indian Short Stories' edited by Kaa Naa Subramanyam in a corner with a seller who lets me decide the prices of the books I buy from him. I had read the name of Kaa Naa Subramanyam a long time back. This title had sixteen stories in various Indian languages translated into English including one by one of my favourite writers- Arun Joshi's 'Gherao' that I had read in a different anthology. This bound copy was from 'Anandha Grandhalayam' Ananda Nagar, Hyderabad according to the stamp on it. I paid thirty rupees for this book. 

The Sunday Haul (on 07-06-2026)

It was a bit cloudy but also uncomfortably warm last Sunday in Hyderabad as I set out for my weekly hunt for second-hand books at Chikkadpally and the pavements of Abids. As usual first stop was Chikkadpally where I picked up a title by an author I had read back in the nineties. 

Sometime in the early nineties having no job I was preparing for bank exams as well as for the Civil Services. I had found a beautiful slim volume with a yellow-cream cover on preparing for the civils, I don't remember the title but the author was Parvez Dewan. I haven't forgotten the author because the book on civils was so well written with a bit of humour in it, and often I had wondered what had become of him. He was in the IAS, and since these guys are always in the news, especially those of Kashmir, I tried but couldn't find his name until last Sunday when I saw his name again on the cover of a book. 

So when I spotted the cover of 'A History of Kashmir' by Parvez Dewan I knew I had to buy it. I got this interesting book for a hundred rupees. 

Later at Abids I found another interesting book about Pakistan. This is my fourth or fifth title about things in Pakistan. When I saw the brightly coloured and attractive cover of 'Fighting to the End: the Pakistan Army's Way of War' by C. Christine Fair I took it out and looked at it. It seemed an interesting book but was too lengthy so I hesitated for a while before taking the plunge and buying it for two hundred rupees. I plan to read it along with all the books on Pakistan that I have on my shelves. 

The Sunday Haul (on 31-05-2026)

 Another cloudy Sunday morning in Hyderabad but there was no respite from the heat though. Another week or so and it will become cooler when the rains come. Anyway, my first stop was Chikkadpally where I picked up a different sort of book. I found a copy of 'Indian English Literature' study material of BRAOU that I picked up because I want to read everything about Indian English Literature be it a textbook or anything else. It did not have anything new as it was a textbook so it was confined to the usual writers. 

The next find was at Abids. I picked up a copy of 'How to Make Enemies and Offend People' by G. Sampath, a hardcover title with a bright green cover. I enjoy reading G.Sampath's colum in the The Hindu on alternate Sundays especially those columns that feature Kattabomman.  He is one of the few writers who are genuinely funny like Sidin Vadukut who also has a column in The Hindu on alternate Sundays. Then there's Krishna Shastri Devulapally also but his column is in the Deccan Chronicle on Sundays though not regularly. Anyway this title seems to be a collection of essays on various topics. I got it for a hundred rupees.

Sometime last year I had found a title of Macmillan Modern Indian Novels in Translation series. It was Srikrishna Alanahally's 'Gendethimma' at Abids. Though I am yet to read it I also picked up a copy of a title in the same series. It was another slim volume and the title was 'Night of the Half Moon' by Gurdial Singh translated from the Punjabi by Pushpinder Syal and Rana Nayar. This too I got for a hundred rupees.

After these hauls as usual I sat in Bench cafe with two of my bibliophile friends and had a lengthy conversation of more than an hour about books, writers, movies, and events of the week. This, more than the books I find, has become the most satisfying part of my Sundays.