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.

The Sunday Haul (on 21-04-2019

With ‘World Book Day’ just two days away I set out for Abids on Sunday morning for the second-hand book market with an eager anticipation about what I would find. Luckily, I kept on finding some very good titles one after the other ultimately ending up with seven wonderful books in the haul.
‘A Room with a View’ that I found some time ago was the only Virginia Woolf title that I had read. When I saw a copy of ‘The Waves’ by Virginia Woolf I hesitated for some time wondering if I’d ever find the time to read it. But in the end I bought it as the seller said he would give it to me for just twenty rupees.

The next find was a book that I had been noticing since a couple of months with a seller who was rather uptight about the prices of his books. Every time I saw the copy of ‘The Uncommon Reader’ by Alan Bennett with its attractive cover in red and the title in a cursive font I was tempted to buy it for the cover alone. Week after week the seller quoted the same price which was too high for me to buy it. But at the same time I hoped no one would dare buy it. However last Sunday when I asked the price of the book again he wearily told me I could have it for any price I wanted to pay for it. There was a hint of contempt in his voice and I was embarrassed and guilty at the same time for trying to take unfair advantage of the seller who was unable to find any buyers for that book, and for trying to buy it at a low price, though, to be honest I was quite able to afford to pay the price the seller was asking for it. Anyway, perhaps it was guilt or something I bought it at a price that made the seller happy if not overjoyed.

Soon after wards I found another book that I already owned. A friend had gifted me a copy of ‘The Girl Who Ate Books’ by Nilanjana Roy on my birthday last year and I started reading it the moment I got home. Needless to say I enjoyed every word in this wonderful book about reading and books. Hoeing somebody would also similarly enjoy it I bought the copy of ‘The Girl Who Ate Books’ that I saw with a seller who gave it to me for a hundred rupees.

It has been my experience that it is in the unlikeliest places that one finds extraordinary things. In a pile of books being sold for twenty rupees I spotted a copy of ‘Unfinished Journey’ by Yehudi Menuhin which turned out to be his autobiography. I do not have any autobiography by musicians but I had found a copy of Celine Dion’s autobiography that I found before I began this blog.

Given my choices in books that range from across several genres it may sound odd, if not silly, if I mention that Dave Barry is one of my favourite writers. No one can make me laugh the way Dave Barry does with his goofy humour in his articles. I always think I’ll do a lengthy blog post about Dave Barry and his humour writing but somehow I am unable to do it. Though I may not have read all his articles I am certain that I have read almost all the books he has written. I have multiple copies of several Dave Barry titles. At one time I had half a dozen copies of ‘Dave Barry Turns 40’. I do not let go of good copies of any Dave Barry title that I come across. Last Sunday I saw a beautiful copy of ‘Dave Barry in Cyberspace,’ a hardcover one that I got for just thirty rupees.

There are a few writers I have read only one of the several title they have published, usually a non-fiction title. Though I have two copies of ‘Havanas in Camelot’, ‘Sophie’s Choice’, ‘The Long March’ ‘Darkness Visible’ and also ‘This Quiet Dust’ that I had found at various times I have not found other titles by him such as ‘Lie Down in Darkness’ that I kept reading in several articles as one of Styron’s best work. I spotted a much used copy of ‘Lie Down in Darkness’ by William Styron that I bought for just ten rupees.

In the same pile of books in which I found ‘Lie Down in Darkness’ I also found a beautiful, new looking copy of ‘’The Ipcress File’ by Len Deighton. This is perhaps the third or fourth copy of the book that I have bought so far. This copy I got for only ten rupees.

The Sunday Haul (on 14-04-2019)

It would have been a forgettable Sunday had I not found a book at the last moment last Sunday at Abids. The sun was at its usual ‘Very Hot’ setting with the temperature hovering somewhere around 39 degrees. I wondered if it was such a good idea to be out in the open on a hot day looking for old books. I was beginning to feel tired of the whole thing when I spotted an interesting title in a heap of books selling for twenty rupees only. I found a copy of ‘The Schirmer Inheritance’ by Eric Ambler that I decided to buy. A long time ago I had found ‘Here Lies Eric Ambler’ his autobiography that was the first book by Eric Ambler that I read even before I read anything else by him. I want to reread it.

Yesterday (Thursday) there was an event at our Institute so I had to stay back in the evening after office hours. I had a couple of hours to kill so I decided to go to Madhapur to see what the techies were up to after the Metro had begun running. I could see that things were no different here since there was the usual traffic madness on the roads- motorists coming on the wrong side of the road, guys not wearing helmets, overcrowded autorickshaws, and two wheelers with one digit on the number plate hidden or defaced to escape being caught by the traffic cops. Anyway, there was a bookstore- Liberty Books- that I wanted to check out. So after eating ‘Muntha Masala’ in a lane and chai I went to the book store.

There were other titles I wanted to pick up but gave up the idea after I spotted a good copy of ‘If You Can’t Be Good’ by Ross Thomas. Ever since I found a copy of ‘The Fools in Town Are On Our Side’ by Ross Thomas sometime in 2014 I’ve been trying to find and read all his titles. I have managed to find nearly half a dozen titles including ‘Missionary Stew’ but I have not yet found some of his best and well known titles like ‘The Cold War Swap,’ ‘Briarpatch,’ and ‘The Seersucker Whipsaw.’ I hope to find them so soon or else I may have to get them online which I don’t want to do yet. I got ‘If You Can’t Be Good’ for seventy five rupees which is reasonable.

THE SUNDAY HAUL (ON 07-04-2019)

Compared to the exciting day it was the Sunday before last in the company of Chandrahas Choudhury it was pretty normal this Sunday though the weather was harsher. If the previous Sunday I had picked up five titles then last Sunday I could find only two titles, cookbooks both. Somewhere along the line I developed an interest in collecting cookbooks especially those published earlier, more due to their fantastic covers than the recipes they featured.

I’ve never had the opportunity to enjoy Parsi fare so far in my life. I am not aware of any place offering Parsi dishes in Hyderabad but it doesn’t matter much because I am not particular about food. However I do like to pick up cookbooks I come across in Abids if they appear interesting enough. Last Sunday I spotted a good copy of ‘Enjoyable Parsi Cooking’ by Jeroo Mehta that had an attractive cover. I noticed that it was published in 1991 and was in a very good condition. I got it for just fifty rupees.

A little later I saw another nice looking cookbook- ‘Enduring Flavours-An Appreciation of East Indian Cuisine’ by Michael Swamy Fernandes. This book too had a very attractive cover and inside there was a nice introduction to the book along with illustrations. This title was published in 1999. At the back was a bibliography and one title listed in it was ‘The Cooking of India’ by Santha Rama Rau that I hope to find someday.
Coincidentally, these two cookbooks were published by the same publisher- Vakils, Feffer and Simons Ltd., Bombay.

The Sunday Haul (on 31-03-2019)

Last Sunday was one of the most exciting I had at Abids in the many years I had browsed for books there on the pavements. Two things made it very interesting. First thing was a special visitor and the other thing was a book. The special visitor was a writer, Chandrahas Choudhury who I showed around Abids. The book was one by a writer I was desperately looking for- Patrick Leigh Fermor.

My friend Hari who had done a writing workshop along with Chandrahas Choudhury sometime last month, called me to say that Chandrahas Choudhury was in town and wanted to check out the Abids Sunday book bazaar. So that was how I ended up showing Chandrahas Choudhury around Abids last Sunday. We had chai and talked about books, travel books especially and also about his next book- Days of My China Dragon- that is coming out later this month. He told me how this book came about which is an interesting story in itself. By the end of our nearly two-hour traipse through Abids Chandrahas Choudhury picked up nearly a dozen books, of which were a couple of books I pointed out helpfully, and I picked up five books. Later Hari joined us at Mohinis at Basheerbagh where we had lunch (biryani, of course this being Hyderabad) and dispersed.

The only books I buy without a second thought are those on writing, reading, books, fountain pens. I cannot resist buying titles on these topics especially on writing which is one reason why I have almost two hundred titles on writing. So when I saw a copy of ‘Creative Writing’ by Kathryn Lindskoog, which was the first book I spotted, I picked it up.

One of the few travel writers I do not have any title with me in my collection is Patrick Leigh Fermor. Not being able to find any title by him all these years I had been collecting books was distressing to me and periodically I lament about it here. Last Sunday however I got lucky and that gap in my travel collection was closed by a slim volume I found in a pile of books selling for twenty rupees only. Had I not decided to disturb the pile I wouldn’t have spotted the Penguin 60s copy of ‘Loose As the Wind’ by Patrick Leigh Fermor lying underneath other bigger sized books. ‘Loose As the Wind’ is an extract from PLF’s ‘A Time of Gifts’ that I hope I will find somewhere very soon.

The Sunday before, I had bought a copy of ‘The Mirror’ a magazine with a fantastic cover with a seller in front of the General Post Office at Abids. Alongside was another interesting book. It was a book straight out of the 60s with a beautiful cover with ‘A Portrait of the Bombay Underworld’ by Balakrishna on it. I thought I had been foolish not to have bought it right away. Last Sunday I searched anxiously for it and luckily the book was still there in the same pile. The publisher is 'Manaktalas':Bombay' and it was published in 1966. The full name of the author is Kulamarva Balakrishna, a journalist with Free Press Journal. I bought it for fifty rupees and felt glad that I had found an interesting book about the Bombay underworld that is of historical interest.

Not long after I reached Abids and parked my two-wheeler, I spotted a book by M.F.K. Fisher with the seller in the covered lane where I leave the vehicle. I thought of picking it up but did not. Later after Chandrahas bought it after I pointed it out to him. After sometime I came across a copy of another book by M.F.K. Fisher with the title ‘Not Now But Now’ on the cover. I bought it for eighty rupees.

On the way home I stopped at Chikkadpally as usual to check out the books the handful of sellers display. I spotted a copy of ‘When the Shooting Stops…the Cutting Begins’ by Ralph Rosenblum and Robert Karen which was about film editing. Though I know nothing about film editing I like to read such accounts so I ended up buying this book too.

The Sunday Haul (on 24-03-2019)

As usual the surprises at the Sunday book bazaar in Abids never seem to cease. Last Sunday I got another pleasant surprise. About a year or more ago I had read about James Salter in some newspaper column about food, and shortly afterwards I had found a copy of his ‘A Sport and a Pastime’ that I read immediately afterwards. Later again I found a copy of his autobiography ‘Burning the Days’ in a second hand book store not very long ago. I began 2019 by making ‘Burning the Days’ the first book I read. It was so good that it made me eager to read his other titles but I couldn’t find any of them until last Sunday.

The first book I found last Sunday at Abids was a beautiful copy of ‘Light Years’ by James Salter. I let out a silent whoop on spotting it and bought it right away. I got it for only fifty rupees. It was one joyful moment finding the book and later when I checked the reviews online I found Jhumpa Lahiri’s essay published in the Paris Review in 2015 where she writes that she read the book when she was eighteen and reread it many times over the years.

The next find was yet another copy of ‘On Writing’ by Stephen King that I found with a seller near the General Post Office. Over the years I have found so many copies of this wonderful book that I have lost count. I have also given away so many copies of it that I have also lost count of the number of people I gave it to. One of the times I posted about finding a copy someone on the blog wondered why he never seemed to find a copy at Abids. So friend, if you are reading this then this copy is for you.

Right beside the copy of ‘On Writing’ that I bought I saw a book with a bright red cover with ‘Copy-editing’ by Judith Butcher on the cover. Being someone very interested in the writing business I bought this book along with Stephen King’s book. Both cost me a hundred and fifty rupees.

The last find was a copy of ‘The Mirror’ with a fantastic painting on the cover. It turned out to be a magazine published in December, 1961. For something published nearly six decades ago it was in a very good condition. Apart from the wonderful cover the other reason I picked up this magazine was the advertisements for Cadbury’s chocolates, Tata Benz trucks, Hotel Ashoka, Fiat cars in the inside pages. The contents are on the back page where the price of the magazine is also mentioned- 50 np! This is an Eve’s Weekly publication. I am wondering if this is some kind of a treasure that I’ve found.

The Sunday Haul (on 17-03-2019) and the Holi Haul (on 20-03-2019)

It had felt hotter the Sunday before than it was last Sunday at Abids. But it was hot enough to feel the need to wear a cap. Though it was uncomfortable being out in the hot sun the haul I made was pretty cool. I picked up four books one of which was a cookbook.

The first title I found was a Hindi title. I had resolved sometime back to read one Telugu and one Hindi book every year because I can read and write in these two languages and there is no point in knowing other languages without reading their literature. So when I spotted an old copy of ‘Shah aur Maat’ by Rajendra Yadav I picked it up. I remembered reading somewhere about ‘Saara Aakash’ by Rajendra Yadav and thought it might be a good idea to buy ‘Shah aur Maat’ that I got for just thirty rupees.

A few minutes later a bright yellow cover in a book shelf caught my eye. It was a good copy of ‘Monsignor Quixote’ by Graham Greene that I do not have. I do not remember reading about this title anywhere before so I grabbed it because I love reading anything by Graham Greene. Along with this I bought a nice copy of ‘Indian Cooking’ by Lalita Ahmed that had a large and attractive cover. I discovered that this book was published sometime back and was in quite a good condition.

Jan Morris is one of my favourite travel writers. Recently I found a copy of ‘Oxford’ that I had bought without a second thought and two Sundays before I had found a Penguin 60’s copy of ‘From the Four Corners’ that I had bought for just twenty rupees. Last Sunday at Abids I saw a copy of ‘Hav’ by Jan Morris in a lot selling for fifty rupees. I knew that this wasn’t a travel book in the real sense and had actually let go of this title when I had seen it earlier at the book fair. Last Sunday I couldn’t resist the price so took it.

The ‘Holi’ Haul

On Holi I had to go to the Institute because an international training was going on. Going to work on a holiday is something no one is happy about. I consoled myself saying I would drop in at MR Books on the way home if I could leave early. Luckily I could leave right after lunch and raced to MR Books. After an hour’s browsing I found a good copy of ‘JJ: Some Jottings’ by Sundara Ramaswamy, and bought it after reading the endorsement by K. Satchidanandan on the front which said: ‘One of the masterpieces of modern Indian fiction.’ I would have anyway bought it because I had read one of his books recently and knew how good Sundara Ramaswamy was.

The Sunday Haul (on 10-03-2019)

Last Sunday was one of the hottest days so far this year with the temperature touching almost 37⁰ C that had me thinking twice before venturing out. But the pull of Abids is so strong that I decided to go wearing a cap on the head and a water bottle in hand. It was a good thing I went because I found five wonderful titles.

The first book I found was a copy of ‘Much Depends on Dinner’ by Margaret Visser that was too interesting to ignore. It is about corn on the cob, chicken with rice, lettuce salad and ice cream and a lot about these food items. The cover seemed a bit soiled but it only appeared like that. I got this book for seventy rupees.

One writer I discovered long back was William Trevor who I found to be one of the most wonderful writers I’ve ever read. I do not remember the title of the book but I had found a copy of ‘After Rain’ soon afterwards. I found another beautiful copy of ‘After Rain’ by William Trevor at Abids last Sunday. I got this collection of short stories by William Trevor for just thirty rupees.

I cannot ignore any book with the Penguin logo on the cover so when I saw a copy of ‘The Night of the Twelfth’ by Michael Gilbert I picked it up. Not only did it have the Penguin logo, also there was high praise for it on the back cover. I read that this title was the ‘Winner of Current Crime’s Silver Cup for the best British crime novel of 1976.’ The thing that clinched it for me was that it was a crime fiction title so I HAD to buy it.

With the same seller from where I bought ‘The Night of the Twelfth’ by Michael Gilbert I found a copy of ‘Company Limited’ by Sankar. It was another Indian title that seemed to have been published sometime in the fifties. On the front cover was a picture of Sharimila Tagore which explained what I read on the back cover that it was made into a movie by Satyajit Ray, the most acclaimed Indian movie maker. I noticed that this was published by Sangam Books, a division of Orient Longman which was something I hadn’t heard about before. But I think this was the find of the day.

Just when I was about to call it a day at Abids I spotted a small book. It was a copy of ‘From the Four Corners’ by Jan Morris, a Penguin 60’s title that contained essays about four – Delhi, Manhattan, Sydney and Vienne. The title of the essay on Delhi is ‘Mrs Gupta Never Rang’ that sounds very interesting. These four essays have been taken from her collection ‘Among the Cities’ that’s now on my ‘to read’ list. I picked up this small book from a pile of books selling for twenty rupees.

The Sunday Haul (on 03-03-2019)

Of the couple of books that I have bought multiple copies over the past few years ‘The Summing Up’ by Somerset Maugham is a title that regularly appears at Abids, in second hand book stores and elsewhere. Last Sunday I spotted a nice copy that was priced pretty cheap at Abids and bought it. I got it for just thirty rupees.

Of late since the past couple of years I have begun to look for books by Indian writers in English published in the early years. Over the years I have managed to find quite a few good titles by writers I have read about or have come across somewhere but I always end up finding titles by writers I have never even heard about. Last Sunday I spotted a book with an attractive cover and picked it up. It was a copy of ‘Nails & Flesh’ by Kartar Singh Duggal. I got it for thirty rupees only.

The copy of ‘Nails & Flesh’ by Kartar Singh Duggal I found had no year of publication mentioned anywhere inside. There are no details of the publisher mentioned anywhere on the cover or in the inside pages except the name ‘Pearl’ and its logo. I wish I could know more about this publisher.

The Sunday Haul (on 25-02-2019)

There’s no better way to judge if it’s summer yet than to be out in the open for a couple of hours. Last Sunday just a few minutes in the open at Abids and I was convinced that summer has begun in Hyderabad. The temperatures have touched 35 degrees C and in another couple of weeks it will be somewhere around forty degrees or more. Then it would be hellish to be in the open for more than a few minutes. However, I did not want to think about the coming weeks and went about looking for books. I ended up finding three good titles.

Sometime back I had found a copy of ‘ A Town Like Alice’ by Nevil Shute that I haven’t yet read. Last Sunday I spotted an old copy of ‘Lonely Road’ by Nevil Shute and hesitated for a few moments wondering if I should buy it. But after reading the first page I decided to buy it and it was the first book I bought last Sunday at Abids.

Further down the road at a seller with a heap of books selling for twenty rupees only I found another Anita Brookner title. I am currently reading ‘Look at Me’ that I had found recently. It is beautifully written. So when I saw a nice copy of ‘Providence’ by Anita Brookner in the heap I picked it up hoping it would be as good as ‘Look at Me.’ Then a few moments after I read the blurb on the cover (“A beautiful study…has the gentle concentration of Barbara Pym”) I spotted the copy of ‘A Glass of Blessings’ by Barbara Pym in the same heap. This copy belonged to someone in London, an OBE and J.P. Needless to say I bought the two books right away.