The Ooty Haul

A government job isn’t something that’ll normally take you places but the one I am doing has luckily for me turned out to be one that’s made me go quite a few interesting places. Over the years I’ve managed to be luckier than most people at my level in the government when it comes to travelling. I’ve been to Delhi about fifty times in five years, have been to Kohima, Itanagar in Arunachal, Guwahati, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar and since the past two years, to Ooty. I must be one of the fortunate few who get to travel to Ooty on work that’ll last two weeks.

This year too I am in Ooty for two weeks coordinating a trek for officers who are getting trained in the Institute I am posted in. I will write about it in a separate post because here in this post I want to write about the Ooty haul. In my previous visit to Ooty last year I chanced upon the Church Hill Book Store where I found three wonderful titles, one being a title by William Trevor. This year too when I was told I had to go to Ooty again I looked forward to visit Church Hill Bookstore. But when I saw that it wasn’t open for the two days that I dropped in there I was disappointed. 

 

Since I hadn’t brought more than a single title to read in Ooty I wanted to buy more books. So I dropped in at Higgin Bothams on the main market road. I was excited when I saw a new copy of Stephen King’s ‘On Writing’ on the shelf. I have bought about a dozen copies of this title over the years because I love it very much. Whenever I see a copy of ‘On Writing’ new or secondhand I buy it right away which is what I did at Higgin Bothams- bought the copy I saw. 

Next I spotted a copy of ‘The Greatest Tamil Stories Ever Told’ selected and edited by Sujatha Vijayaraghavan and Mini Krishnan that I decided to buy after I looked at the list of authors whose stories were in it. There were writers like Pudumaipithan, Ashokamithran, Sundara Ramaswamy, Perumal Murugan, Baama, Kalki whose stories I had read. There were thirty stories in all and I haven’t read the stories by writers I wasn’t familiar with. Though it was priced at Rs 699 I bought the beautiful hardcover copy for it was worth a lot more than what I paid for it. 

 

After several calls Arthy Vivek who runs the store told me over the phone that the store hasn’t been opened since more than five months and that she was thinking of closing it down. However she opened the store once and I managed to find two titles. I found a beautiful copy of ‘Flaubert’s Parrot’ by Julian Barnes that I was looking for ever since I read ‘The Sense of an Ending’ by Julian Barnes. 

The other title I found was ‘Rites of Passage’ by Sanjoy Hazarika. I had read a different title on the conflict in the North East by Sanjoy Hazarika and found it full of insights. Needless to say I picked up this title too. The biggest surprise was that I got both the above titles for hundred rupees each. However, I feel terribly sad that Church Hill Book Store is soon closing down. I hope it doesn’t happen.

The Sunday Haul (on 27-03-2022)

 

There are a few writers who write with great clarity on difficult subjects like religion. One such writer is Susan Visvanathan whose essay I read once a long time back. I think she used to have a column in a newspaper or magazine that I am now unable to recollect but her name has stuck in my mind. Last Sunday at Abids near the GPO I spotted a copy of ‘The Visiting Moon’ by Susan Visvanathan. I picked it up and saw that it was a hardcover copy of a collection of stories. I got it for only eighty rupees which was far less than what I had expected the seller to ask for it.

The next two Sundays I would be in Ooty on work so I wanted to find a few more books at Abids but I couldn't find any. The thought of not being at Abids for two Sundays was hard to bear but I couldn't avoid it. 

The Sunday Haul (on 20-03-2022)

Sometime back I came to a slow realization that I own several titles about/or on a few countries such as on Africa, America, the UK, the Arabs, India, South America, Tibet, and Australia. But the highest number of titles are on China with nearly a dozen titles. Last Sunday at Abids I found another superb book though not entirely about China.

It was a beautiful copy of ‘Slow Boats to China’ by Gavin Young that I almost missed spotting since it was nestled among books for children that I usually don’t look carefully at. I noticed it when I spotted the Penguin logo on the cover. I felt glad that I picked it up because there’s a blurb by Paul Theroux on the cover. After reading the Prelude I was so taken up that I was tempted to read on. But I had decided to read all titles about one country/region at one time one after the other so I could have a better understanding so I kept it alongside the other titles on China.

Somehow I was irrationally overjoyed finding the copy of ‘Slow Boats to China’ by Gavin Young though I paid a hundred and fifty rupees for it.

The Sunday Haul (on 13-03-2022)

More than two decades ago, sometime in 2000 or so, at Abids I found a copy of Stephen King’s ‘On Writing’ that had no cover and the title was written with a sketch pen on a white cover. I didn’t know it when I picked it up that reading the book would spur me on to write a novel I had in mind at that time but didn’t really have the courage or the confidence to begin writing. I still have that copy that I treasure. It was in ‘On Writing’ that I first read about ‘The Elements of Style’ by Strunk and White that Stephen King urged everyone who aspires to be a writer to read. So, aspiring writer that I was I looked around for it but did not find it until a couple of years later. It was the third edition with the classic light yellow cover with the title in brown.

Sometime later I read that the fourth edition of TEOS had come out and since there was no way I could find it right away I managed to ask a relative in the US who was visiting to get it for me. It was a hardcover copy and a brand new one. Since then I have picked up almost every copy that I came across and also have given away a few copies to people who had aspirations of writing. Last Sunday at Abids I came across another copy of the fourth edition of ‘The Elements of Style’ by Strunk & White. But this was a paperback copy and I grabbed it right away for eighty rupees. It is almost a new and pristine copy that I am pleased to have found.

Any title I see with ‘writing’ or ‘writer’ in it I pick up and it is how I have ended up buying more than two hundred titles on writing/writers. But unfortunately even after reading all of them, and even after rereading some of them my writing still remains as bad as it was before I started reading them. Anyway last Sunday at Abids I found yet another title on writing- ‘Writing in the Arts and Sciences’ eds Elaine P. Maimon and others. This was a hardbound copy that is published by Little Brown which was what made me buy it in the first place.

These second hand booksellers’ groups on WhatsApp that I have joined have regular sales, sometimes twice a week. Since I am part of a few groups there’s a sale almost every day. However I buy only a few titles that I do not usually find in Abids or in the second hand bookstores in Hyderabad. One such title that I had been looking for was ‘Following Fish’ by Samanth Subramaniam that almost everybody who has read it says it is a fantastic title and so sharpening my desire to lay my hands on it. It is one of the titles on travels in India by Indian writers that is missing and that I wanted to desperately add to my small collection of such titles. At last I managed to claim it on a sale on WhatsApp and it was delivered last week. I think I paid hundred and fifty rupees for this book.

The Sunday Haul (on 06-03-2022)

 Quite regularly I get extremely lucky at the Abids second hand book market on Sundays. Last Sunday turned out to be one such lucky one when I found not one, two or three but six wonderful titles in the couple of hours I spent browsing there. Half of them were travel titles that added to the joy. On one side was the joy of finding some extremely good titles and at the same time there was a sense of quiet panic at the addition of six more books to the disorderly pile of books at home. However, joy prevailed over the panic because nothing brings more joy than the sight of books filling up the shelves at home.

Pico Iyer happens to be one of my favorite travel writers and I have all his titles. A couple of weeks ago I saw a nice copy of ‘Falling Off the Map’ by Pico Iyer at Abids but I resisted buying it because I already have the title. Last Sunday somehow I did not want to leave it behind and picked up the copy that no one seemed to have noticed. It was a beautiful copy, unspoilt and almost new. I got it for a hundred rupees.

Another title that I was saw on and off on the shelves of a seller was a hefty copy of ‘A Mad World, My Masters’ by John Simpson. A couple of weeks ago the seller quoted an unreasonable price for it that put me off buying it though I desperately wanted to buy it. Last Sunday I was taken aback when he offered to give it to me at half the price that he had quoted earlier. Maybe he did not remember the price he had originally asked me so I bought it right away. I got this title too for a hundred rupees.

A few sellers put some books in a heap and sell them at a set price. The price ranges from Rs 20 to 3 for Rs 200. There’s a heap of Rs 20 books where I have managed to find some interesting titles. In the heap of Rs 20 heaps that a seller had I spotted a title that I wouldn’t have got for even Rs 500 anywhere. I was quite surprised when I saw a wonderful copy of ‘Every Day is for the Thief’ by Teju Cole in that heap. I picked it up the moment I saw it was a Teju Cole title. Coincidentally I am currently reading Teju Cole’s ‘Known and Strange Things’ where I first read about ‘Every Day is for the Thief’ .

When the seller is unable to sell books at prices he wants they end up in heaps of books selling for low prices such as Rs 50, Rs 100 or so. There were a couple of titles that I had been eyeing with a seller at Abids and that I couldn’t afford. Last Sunday I saw in a heap marked ‘3 for Rs 200’ that had a lot of good titles. This seller somehow stocks the latest and bestselling titles and I buy a title or two occasionally because the prices are too high. I picked up a copy of ‘Between Two Seas’ by Charles Lister that I had seen earlier. I also picked up ‘Seeing Red’ by Lina Meruane, a hardcover copy that appeared quite good after I flipped through a few pages and read a few paragraphs at random.

I also picked up a nice copy of ‘Days of Awe’ by A.M. Homes that comes with a great blurb on the cover by Zadie Smith.  

The Sunday Haul (27-02-2022)

Last Sunday I was glad I carried my cap along because the sun was fierce enough to need protection from. Cap on head and feeling shaded I browsed at Abids and found two wonderful titles that I was glad for.

Only the previous Sunday I had found a copy of ‘The Closed Circle- An Interpretation of the Arabs’ by David Pryce-Jones that was another addition to the titles on the Middle East and Arabs that I had found. I was very surprised when I found another title on Arabs- ‘A History of the Arab Peoples’ by Albert Hourani. Initially I was put off by the dirt and grime on the cover but after seeing that it was a ‘faber and faber’ title I grabbed it. After I got home I cleaned the cover and tweeted about it. I was surprised to discover that it was a sought after title. I was pleased to have found it and more pleased that I got it for only a hundred rupees. It is another thick volume similar to the other titles on Arabs that I have with me at home. I plan to read all these titles one after the other in order of publication- the older ones first.

The last find was a title by a writer I greatly admire- Fakir Mohan Senapati. Ever since I read his ‘Six Acres and a Third’ I have been on the lookout for his other titles. Under a pile of books I spotted just the word ‘Fakir’ and I knew it would be Fakir Mohan Senapati. When I pulled out the book I was pleased to find it was indeed a title by him. It was a beautiful copy of ‘Lachhamaa’ that I got for only fifty rupees. I was really glad to find it because I have never heard of this title that was quite slim. This is the book I am going to read next.  However the name was spelt as ‘Phakir’  and not Fakir.

The Sunday Haul (on 20-02-2022)

If the temperature on Sunday morning in Hyderabad was anything to go by then summer is not very far off. It wasn’t hot but a bit too warm. There was the usual crowd looking at the books spread out on the pavements by the regular sellers. Somehow I did not find many titles worth picking and in the end managed to find only one book.

A couple of years ago I had picked up a copy of ‘The Africans’ by David Lamb that I read soon after and was very impressed by David Lamb’s writing. I did not know then that he had also written a similar book titled ‘The Arabs’ that I found soon afterwards. However I am yet to read it since I had decided to read all the books I can find on a particular region, or country or people in keeping with my developing interest in history and geopolitics. Luckily, last Sunday I came across a nice copy of ‘The Closed Circle- An Interpretation of the Arabs’ by David Pryce-Jones.

The paperback copy I found was published in 1990 and runs into almost four hundred and fifty pages. I read the first few paragraphs in the introduction and some random paragraphs in the inside pages and was instantly hooked. Since I am currently reading other titles I want to read ‘The Closed Circle’ sometime in the near feature. Btw, I got this copy for a hundred and fifty rupees.

The Sunday Haul (on 13-02-2022)

 

Immediately after finding ‘Satisdiction’ the previous Sunday at Abids I began to go through the book which is mainly a list of some interesting words from the Oxford English Dictionary. One of the words I came across was the word ‘Apricity’ meaning soaking in the warmth of the winter sun. I was also experiencing Apricity at Abids last Sunday as the mild winter sun kept me comfortably warm as I browsed the books laid out on the pavements and road.

By some curious coincidence three out of the four books I found at Abids last Sunday turned out to be travel titles, and the one that wasn’t turned out to be a classic that is hard to find. But Abids is such a place that one can find great treasures one cannot find even in bookstores.

        Of late I had begun to come across the name Georges Perec and his books especially ‘Life- A User’s Manual’ that someone had mentioned on Twitter recently. But I did not even imagine that I would find a copy of the very same title- ‘Life- A User’s Manual’ by Georges Perec at Abids. I had picked up a thriller that seemed quite good going by the blurbs on the cover and had moved across the pile of books the seller had to pay him when I spotted the title ‘Life- A User’s Manual’ by Georges Perec on a book. I slowly picked it up to take a good look to see if it was the real thing, and realized that it was indeed the real thing. It was a copy from a library in the Secretariat! I paid just a hundred rupees for it and was quite thrilled that I had found a classic.

A few years back just when my interest in travel books began to peak I found a copy of ‘Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee’ by Dee Brown. I haven’t yet found the time to read it but that did not prevent me from buying another copy of the same title that I came across last Sunday. Initially I hesitated to buy it but when I realized that I was getting the rare title for only fifty rupees I bought it.

A couple of weeks ago, in January actually, I found another title about/on China- ‘Notes from China’ by Barbara Tuchman. It was another addition to the half-dozen odd titles on China that I have managed to gather over the years. Except for ‘Riding the Iron Rooster’ by Paul Theroux I haven’t read the others. I plan to read the rest of the titles one by one soon. Last Sunday at Abids I found another memoir of China. It was a copy of ‘Sounds of the River’ by Da Chen. This too I got for fifty rupees only with the same seller where I bought ‘Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee’ by Dee Brown.

If I were allowed to visit only one place then I would choose someplace in Africa. I don’t know what it is about Africa that attracts me but it is my favourite continent that never fails to fascinate me. It all began after I read ‘Dark Star Safari’ by Paul Theroux and later Chinua Achebe’s ‘Things Fall Apart’ when my interest in knowing more about Africa took off. I actively sought out books written on Africa, books by African writers, and books by people who have studied Africa. I found many titles about/on Africa that now fill my shelf. Only a couple of weeks back I had found another travel title and last Sunday at Abids I found a copy of ‘After Mandela: The Battle for the Soul of South Africa’ by Alec Russell. This too I got for only fifty rupees.

The Sunday Haul (on 06-02-2022)

Not very long back, in fact after reading ‘Balkan Ghosts’ by Robert D. Kaplan sometime last year, I developed a desire to know more about what happened in other parts of the world, and what is happening now. In short, history and geo-politics is what interests me of late. Fortunately I found more such books by other writers most of them journalists. Though I haven’t read all such books that I‘ve managed to buy I am glad I had decided to read such titles because it increases my understanding of the events in different parts of the world.  Each such title that I read makes me want to read more such books so I buy all such books whenever I come across them.

Last Sunday at Abids I spotted a mammoth book and at first I was hesitant to even look at it. But when I looked at the cover I decided to buy it though the first few pages were damaged a bit. It was a copy of ‘The Great War for Civilization-The Conquest of the Middle East’ by Robert Fisk. Right away I knew it was a great title and the blurb on the cover seemed to strengthen my feeling.

Sometime ago I had been lucky to find a beautiful copy of ‘Meditations’ by Marcus Aurelius that I now cannot find in my shelves. I do not remember reading it but I feel that I was lucky to find it. I had read about it in ‘English August’ by Upamanyu Chatterjee in which the main character refers to it. Also very recently, last month in fact, I had found a title in the ‘Penguin Books Great Ideas’ series, small books that easily fit in a small bag and very convenient to read while travelling. It was a copy of ‘Why I Write’ by George Orwell that I bought for a hundred rupees at Abids. At Abids again last Sunday I came across a beautiful copy of ‘Meditations’ by Marcus Aurelius with a cover I couldn’t take my eyes off and bought it.

In the past few years I must have bought more than half a dozen copies of ‘The Art of Living’ by Epictetus that I gave away to friends and others. Somehow I am very attracted to this beautiful book and when I saw another copy at Abids last Sunday I couldn’t resist buying it. I got it for fifty rupees only.

I don’t really know why but I keep buying several copies of a few titles that I liked. I also buy copies of some books I haven’t read. One such book is ‘An End to Suffering’ by Pankaj Mishra that I found some time ago. This is another title I haven’t read yet I bought another copy I saw last Sunday at Abids. The reason why I bought it was that it was a hardcover copy that was for sale for just fifty rupees. It was in good condition so I picked it up.

The Sunday Haul (on 30-01-2022)

It was a foolish of me not to have picked up a copy of ‘Guns, Germs and Steel’ by Jared Diamond when I first saw it in a pile of books at Abids a couple of years back. I was not aware it was such a good book so it was just ignorance that made me skip buying the book the first time I saw it. After some time I read somewhere about ‘Guns, Germs and Steel’ and began to look for it at Abids and other places but I could never come across it until last Sunday when I finally found it again. This time I did not hesitate but just swooped on it and picked it up. I got it for hundred and fifty rupees.

The next find too was something I did not think twice before buying it because the title itself was enough for me to want to buy it. It was a copy of ‘The Weekenders: Travels in the Heart of Africa’ and the word ‘Africa’ was enough to make me grab it right away. ‘The Weekenders’ contains a couple of short stories and travel essays by writers like Alex Garland, Giles Foden, Victoria Glenndinning, and Irvine Welsh who were sent to Sudan to write about the place and the conditions there. This was commissioned by Daily Telegraph and all proceeds from the sale of this book would be spent on aid in Sudan.

The next find too turned out to be a travel title. I saw a copy of ‘Far Horizons’ by Frank Gardner. I hadn’t heard of Frank Gardner till I saw the name on the cover of ‘Far Horizons.’ On the back cover and inside it says that Frank Gardner is the security correspondent for the BBC and has travelled widely covering many events, and places all over the world. The title further says ‘Unusual Journeys and Strange Encounters from a Travelling Life’ which was enough for me to buy it.

The last find was another interesting book. This is the second dictionary related non-fiction book that I found recently, the first one being ‘The Professor and the Madman’ by Simon Winchester and it was a title on the making of the Oxford English Dictionary. Coincidentally,  ‘Satisdiction’ by Ammon Shea is a compilation of some unusual words he came across in the Oxford English Dictionary. I love words and always want to know more about them so I didn’t think twice before picking up the book for fifty rupees. I started reading the book right after I got home. One of the words I liked was ‘Agelastic’ meaning someone who never laughs. It seems the right word to describe me.