The Sunday Haul (on 23-08-2026)

 

It had rained on Saturday night and early in the morning too it was cloudy as if it was going to rain later in the day. The forecast was for rain on Sunday as well as Monday. But somehow it did not rain though the sky was overcast all day. As usual I started off my trip to the Sunday second-hand book market at Abids with the first stop at Chikkadpally. But before walking to Chikkadpally I stopped at the seller in the corner at RTC Crossroads. 

I have only two titles on China, a country I wish to know about in detail especially its history.  I think it is a fascinating country to know more about so when I saw a copy of 'China: From the Opium Wars to the 1911 Revolution' by Jean Chesneaux, Marannie Bastid, Marie-Claire Bergere I picked it up. I had seen this title the previous Sunday but had not bought it feeling it was like a textbook. But last Sunday when I looked at closely and also skimmed through some pages I decided it was worth reading. 

Caste is what is keeping our country backward. I have about ten titles on caste by different authors that I picked up over the years but hadn't yet read. My plan is to read all the titles on different topics like China, the Middle East, Africa at one go so I can have a complete idea about the issue. I plan to read al the titles on caste at one time and keep adding titles whenever I find them. When I saw the copy of 'The Persistence of Caste: The Khairlanji Murders & India's Hidden Apartheid' by Anand Teltumbde whose essays I have read in newspapers, I picked it up though I had to shell out a hundred and fifty rupees for it. 

I do not remember where but I read that 'Njal's Saga' was a classic and did not think much about it as it was a book set in Iceland and also that I thought I wouldn't find. But last Sunday I was pleasantly shocked when I saw a copy of 'Njal's Saga', a 'Wordsworth Classics of World Literature' edition, and even more shocked when the seller said fifty rupees when I asked the price. 

After chai at 'Star of India' with a friend I stepped out to look at the titles with the seller just beside the cafe. I spotted 'Easy Riders Raging Bulls' by Peter Biskind with an eye-catching cover that I took out to take a close look, and then decided to buy it. I got it for a hundred rupees only.