The Sunday Haul

Last Sunday turned out to be completely different from the sort of Sundays I usually have. First, the sun came out brightly after about a week of cloudy but rainless days, I couldn’t go to Abids at my usual time which was because I had to go to office on work (and later to Jubilee Hills which was cause for much excitement,) and finally my friends said they couldn’t join me at Abids. Early Sunday morning when I got the call that I have to go to office little did I realize it would entail a visit to Jubilee Hills as well. I usually look forward to a visit to Jubilee Hills anytime and it had been quite a long time since I had been to Jubilee Hills. I don’t know about you but I feel like I have been to another different world whenever I am in Jubilee Hills. Also,I had never been to Jubilee Hills before on a Sunday and it turned out to be different.

Naturally, I went in the car, being No.2. I almost felt like one of the residents of the Jubilee Hills being driven in a Honda City in that posh area but for the fact that my wallet was almost empty. Looking around I was reassured that everything was fine with Jubilee Hills and its fancy homes, its fashionable, rich residents who, I was surprised to note I did not see a single specimen of on the streets though it was past noon. Then it struck me that it was a Sunday and no self-respecting JH type would get out of bed until four in the afternoon on such a day. Naturally again, I was deeply disappointed for I was very much looking forward to see at least a couple of fashionable denizens going around in their fancy, expensive cars wearing those oversized goggles.

Anyway, later in the afternoon, at exactly 1 pm I reached Abids and proceeded alone to look for books. Actually it had been quite a while since I had no company while hunting for books and so I enjoyed the solo hunt and landed three books. The first find was a decent copy of Woody Allen’s ‘Without Feathers’ which is a collection of some hilarious essays and plays. Though I already possess a copy I picked it up since it cost me only thirty rupees and since it was a Woody Allen book that led me into a nice friendship with a very interesting person. The second find of the day was a book by a writer about whom I had only read so far and had not actually expected to find. I found David Foster Wallace’s ‘The Broom of the System’ and got it for only twenty rupees. I would have been happier if I had found ‘Infinite Jest’ but ‘The Broom…’ was no less a happy find though I wonder when I would find the time to read the tome that runs into 530 pages.

The last find of the day was Bill Bryson’s ‘Down Under’ which I had been looking for. I do remember reading it earlier but I want to read it again because after Dave Barry, Bryson is someone who I find very funny. ‘Down Under’ too is quite a tome and also turned out to be an expensive find because the seller wouldn’t give it to me for less than seventy rupees. I actually let go of two other good books- beautiful, hardcover copies of Len Deighton’s ‘Yesterday’s Spy’ and John Le Carre’s ‘Call for the Dead’ that I now feel I should have bought. Maybe next Sunday I will pick them up.

The Sunday Haul

Yesterday while reading about Robert Byron’s ‘Road to Oxiana’ in Aparna Karthikeyan’s delightful column in the Metro Plus supplement of ‘The Hindu’ my desire to find this book grew stronger than ever. I also had the realization that there were quite a few books that I am desperate to find and which I hope to find either in the second hand bookstores of Hyderabad or at Abids. Some of the titles in my ‘Dying to Find’ list include:- ‘All About H.Hatterr’ by GV Desani, ‘Get Carter’ by Ted Lewis, ‘Fresh Air Fiend’ and ‘The Pillars of Hercules’ by Paul Theroux, ‘The Blind Rider’ by Juan Goytisolo, ‘The Pulphead’ by John Jeremiah Sullivan and several other books too numerous to list here.

If I am patient I know I will find these books one of these days just as I found Wilfred Thesiger and Freya Stark’s books in second hand bookstores and in the Abids book bazaar. Last Sunday there weren’t many books that I saw that were worth picking up. But I ended up buying an original edition of Elizabeth Gilbert’s ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ that I had been planning to read. This did not come cheap and cost me a hundred rupees. I also saw a badly damaged copy of Chuck Palahniuk’s ‘The Fight Club’ that did not appear worth buying so I let it be. A few minutes later Uma picked Palahniuk’s ‘Diary’ which was a brand new hardcover copy that he got for just thirty rupees.

The other book that I picked up at Abids on Sunday was Reader’s Digest ‘5oth Anniversary Treasury’, a hardbound copy that I got for only fifty rupees. It runs into several hundred pages and among others has Helen Hanff’s ’84, Charing Cross Road’ and articles by AJ Cronin and Michener, apart from several other stories, articles, jokes. I picked it up feeling it would be a nice read during rainy afternoons.

The Sunday Haul

There is nothing better than carrying a collection of short stories to pass the time and also get some serious reading done. I made this discovery recently while in the waiting room of a doctor I had gone to consult for a minor problem. Maybe I will write about this ‘minor problem’ in a future post. Anyway, since I know I may have to wait for at least on hour for my turn I decided to carry along Annie Proulx’s ‘Close Range’ to read. I finished reading ‘A Pair of Spurs’ which was quite a lengthy short story before my turn came. Afterwards I realized that I have quite a number of collections of short stories of which Indian writers are too few, insignificant, in fact. I had only Anita Desai’s ‘Diamond Dust’ and Mridula Koshy’s ‘If It Is Sweet’ in my collection. After I went through all the short story collections on my bookshelves I noticed that those by women writers outnumbered those by men. I did not have a single book of short stories written by an Indian male writer which was something I told myself I would rectify at the earliest.

Last Sunday at Abids I finally got the opportunity. I saw MT Vasudevan Nair’s ‘Catching An Elephant and Other Stories,’ ,a collection of Malayalam short stories translated into English by V.Abdulla. ‘Catching An Elephant..’ has nine stories in all: Catching an Elephant, Red Earth, In Search of Shelter Once Again, Pathways of Withered Leaves, Bondage, The Enemy, The Sale, When the Doors of Heaven Open, and Kuttiedathi. I am glad I found this book at Abids and got it for only twenty rupees. This would be the first work of MT Vasudevan Nair that I would be reading though I’ve been read about him since quite a long. What fascinates me about him is that he is a screenwriter as well, something which not many writers can do successfully. The other book that I picked up at Abids last Sunday was Jeffrey Archer’s ‘Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less’ which I haven’t read so far. Archer isn’t exactly a writer I look forward to read but this was an original copy and not a pirated edition which is all that one finds if one wants to buy Archer’s books.

Last Sunday was the last hot Sunday of the summer. It was cloudy in the morning when we began the hunt for the books. Almost every week someone new is joining our small group of three intrepid book lovers. Last Sunday one more person tagged on and luckily found something worth buying. The surprise of Sunday was finding a translation of ‘Devdas’ that Shrikant had asked for just before we hit the pavements to look for the books. I had no idea that an English translation existed but when I spotted the book I was gladder than Shrikant for having found it. Surprises never cease at Abids.

The No.2's Car

It is more than a month since I’ve become the No. 2 in my office. Though I’ve become used to some of the perks that come with that post there’s one thing I’m yet to get over. I still cannot believe that I’m being driven to and from the office in a big car. Since as far as I know I’ve been only riding bikes to office all through my career and never once did I imagined that one day I would be going by a car. Since I ride a bike it used to be a vague sort of dream to sit in the back seat of a car and read the papers like some of the people I watch while on the road. I used to wonder what it would take to reach that position but did not give it much thought. Now I am doing exactly the same.

Of all the perks of being No. 2 the only one I am enjoying immensely is the facility of being driven in the car. To someone who has to negotiate the traffic in Hyderabad on a bike in the hot sun it is nothing short of a miracle. Everyday morning the car waits for me before the gate while I leisurely get ready. It struck me in the first couple of days that I could do something productive in the twenty minutes it takes me to get to the Secretariat. I decided I would read since I haven’t been much reading of late. So I am carrying a book along in my bag. I am reading quite a few pages of the book but I guess I am reading the wrong book. It is a book that I feel one shouldn’t read in the air-conditioned comfort of a Honda City. I am reading P.Sainath’s ‘Everybody Loves a Good Drought’ during my daily journey in the car. If you’ve read the book you will know why I feel guilty.

I know I may not be No. 2 for long and am actually waiting to be back to being No.5 which is more comfortable but no less arduous as being the No.2. Being No. 2 is different as I found out the other day on a trip to Delhi. A couple of weeks ago my boss told me to attend a meeting at Delhi in his place. It made me more jittery than flattered to represent my boss at a meeting. The meeting was in one of the spacious halls of Vigyan Bhavan and I sat in the front row rigid with anxiety. All around me were senior officers from all over the country and we were being addressed by some very top shots of the Government of India. I couldn’t breathe freely until the meeting ended before lunch. I was glad I wasn’t asked how the situation was in the state. But it felt pretty good attending the meeting though I did not open my mouth to say anything. Except a handful none of the others too spoke. On the plane back home I wondered about my incredible luck-the car, the trips to Delhi by plane and of course, an allowance for being No.2. I couldn’t ask for more in this job.

The Sunday Haul

Unlike most other days last Sunday it was cloudy that made the morning pleasantly cool. Apart from the weather there was Uma, Srikanth and my kid with me on the book hunt at Abids. Despite all this there hung on my head some kind of despondency I was unable to shrug off. Being No. 2 is taking a silent toll which is showing up in my demeanour. I’m silent and introspective most of the time. I thought the outing on Sunday would lighten me up and lighten I did after finding two good books.

The first find was ‘In Praise of Older Women’ by Stephen Vizinczey which I had read about quite a number of times. Though I wasn’t exactly looking forward to reading I couldn’t stop myself from buying it considering the fact that it was a hard cover copy that I had to pay only twenty rupees for. I have to make the time to read it sometime soon.

By noon the sun was out and it turned too warm. At the seller near GPO I spotted a nice copy of P. Sainath’s ‘Everybody Loves a Good Drought’. I had found a copy of the same title but with a different cover a couple of months ago. In fact I am in the middle of reading the book and I want to write a review after I finish it. This copy that I thought was terrific turned out to be a slightly hasty decision. Some of the inside pages were stained and in my eagerness of finding it I hadn’t forgotten to flip through the pages and take a good look before deciding to buy it. I paid a hundred rupees for it but I guess it is still worth it. I have in mind someone I plan to give it to.

The Sunday Haul

Last Sunday it was very, very hot in Hyderabad. At Abids, out in the open, we hunted for books in the heaps. This Sunday two more people (friends of Srikanth) joined us and together we picked up quite a few books. I found only one book- Mario Vargas Llosa's 'The Story Teller' that I got quite cheap.

As usual, I read the first chapter and it was so good that I am currently reading it. Since I am busy being No.2 I couldn't post earlier and it another reason this post is short. Next post would be a bigger one because it would be about the two trips to Delhi I would have made by Wednesday. There would be another post about the downside of being No. 2.

The Sunday Haul and Other Stuff

Come May and Hyderabad turns into a cauldron. Only those with important and urgent business venture in the hot sun on Sundays. Many prefer to stay at home and relax on the holiday. But since I find my relaxation in the hunt for books at Abids I prefer to be there hot sun or not, hoping to get lucky. Last Sunday ( 6th May) too I was at Abids for the hunt. The previous Sunday I had missed picking up two books due to budget problems. This Sunday with the wallet full I could afford to buy the books. Luckily one of the books was still around and the second book wasn't the one I had seen the other day but in its place I found a different title but by the same author. I found Richard Dawkins' ' A Devil's Chaplain' instead of his 'The God Delusion' that I had seen the previous Sunday. I also picked up Octavio Paz's 'In Light of India'. Later at home I read the introduction to the three books I picked up and it was a struggle to prevent myself from reading the rest of the book. However, I am already into 'In Light of India'.

Ever since I read Atul Gawande's 'Better' and 'Complications' I have been on the look for the book that made him famous- 'The Checklist Manifesto.' A friend also wanted to read it and I was a bit desperate to find it and last Sunday at last I came across not one but two copies of it. The edition was a hardcover one and had a drug company's name on it which meant that it was for giving away to doctors who bothered to read such stuff. Anyway, it was a beautiful copy that I got for only eighty rupees. It is one of the books I want to start reading right away.

Uma found Evelyn Waugh's 'Scoop' which I missed spotting. It was a beautiful Penguin copy and was really a good find. However I couldn't find 'No Country for Old Men' by Cormac McCArthy that I had missed the previous Sunday. Since I had seen the movie I thought it wouldn't make any sense buying the book. Later I realized I should have bought it but when I looked it was gone.

The other highlight of that Sunday was the "Literary Review' in 'The Hindu' which I had been waiting for since last month. If last month Aleph had an ad announcing its May releases this month it was the turn of Rupa's new imprint 'raintree' to list out its new releases. There was a lot of stuff in LR but what was interesting was the interview with Anjum Hasan whose new collection of short stories is out. Sometime soon I will buy it since I do enjoy her writing.

The 'Literary Review' in 'The Hindu'

It was a bit of news that was exciting but I actually felt disappointed. I read that Ashokamitran would be in Hyderabad to receive an award from the NTR Trut on the 28th of this month. The disappointing side of this news is that I will be in Delhi attending a meeting on that very day. If I weren't making that trip I would have surely met the great writer and taken his autograph on a copy of 'Mole' that I read recently. Incidentally there is a copy of this book at the new Odyssey branch in Secunderabad.

Ashokamitran in Hyderabad

Unlike the previous years when Best Books Center would have a sale of second hand books in May, this year they plan to have it in September. I was really looking forward to their sale in May but I have to wait another four months.

The Power and Glory of Being No. 2

In the novel ‘The Man’ by Irving Wallace, someone down the pecking order becomes the President of the United State in strange circumstances. Something similar happened in our office recently though the No. 1 is still around and there was no accident or anything like what happens in the novel. Almost overnight from somewhere being No. 5 I became No. 2 in the office. The interesting thing is that apart from being No. 5, I am also No. 2 which is something which happens only in the government.

Sometime last week the No. 2 in the office left abruptly. The No. 3 position was vacant. The No. 4 was out of action since a long time because of an accident. There’s someone between No. 4 and No. 5 but I was chosen as No. 2 for reasons I am yet to comprehend. Never had I dreamt that I would take such a quantum leap up the ladder. After a week’s experience as No. 2 all I can say it is no joke being a heartbeat away from being No. 1. Not that I can ever hope to become No.1.It is impossible. So far it has been a smooth ride but I am eager to get back to my No. 5 status because I am not comfortable with a lot of things that come with being No. 2 in our office.

The responsibilities of being No. 2 are rather heavy. But there are a lot of perks that come with the No. 2 job. I have a large room with an AC, an anteroom with an attached toilet and a bed in case I feel like taking a nap, a television set, two telephones, two personal attendants, a PA with his own room and of course, tea and coffee whenever I want. Then there’s the car. It isn’t an ordinary white Ambassador car that I am travelling now but a Honda City. It has two drivers who work in shifts. I had never imagined that I would get driven to work in such a big car.

I keep forgetting that I am the No. 2 and on entering the office go to my old No. 5 seat and spend some time there before being reminded by the personal attendant about the files waiting for me. There are usually mountains of files I have to go through and sign as No. 2. There are too many things to attend at once, especially meetings. Then as No. 2 almost everyone in the office is subordinate to me which means I get too much of respect (most of it false) if I venture out of my room. People make way for me like I am the Pope, they open doors for me like I can’t open them myself and generally treat me in a way that makes me very nervous.

Apart from myself there are others too who do not seem to be very happy at my elevation as No. 2. It shows in their face when they come to me with files with an expression that says they cannot believe I am the No. 2. At times like that and in their presence I begin to feel somewhat unworthy myself. Since I am in the No. 2 seat temporarily I cannot really assert myself very much. The only bright thing about being No. 2, apart from the perks, is the fact that I will get additional pay for being an impostor. But the downside is that I haven’t even once dropped in at Adarsh or Paradise or any Irani joint for chai on the way home. I’m getting to drink Irani chai only on Sundays at Abids.

The Sunday Haul

Of the few things that prevent me from picking up books at will, lack of money tops the list just before lack of time to read. Though I came across more than a couple of books on Sunday that I wanted to pick up I couldn’t do so because it was the end of the month and the wallet wasn’t exactly in a position to support the decision. Nevertheless I picked up two books- one at Abids and the other at Chikkadpally. However the disappointment of not having picked up some books that I had seen overshadowed the joy of finding these books.

At Abids last Sunday I found another travel book- Mary McCarthy’s ‘The Stones of Venice and Rome Observed’- in a heap of books on the pavement. I got this Penguin title for twenty rupees only which is quite a bargain. I haven’t read Mary McCarthy’s other books like ‘The Group’ of which I have heard and read a lot and also come across quite frequently at Abids. But I do plan to read ‘The Stones of Venice and Rome Observed’ one of these days. The blurbs on the back cover make it difficult not to read the book.

More than a couple of years ago I had found Pico Iyer’s ‘Tropical Classical’ which is something of a treasure. ‘Tropical Classical’ showcases Pico Iyer’s essays, travelogues, reviews and other writings in one place. The copy I had found then wasn’t exactly in good condition with the pages coming apart at the spine. Not so long ago I wished I could find a good copy and that wish came true last Sunday at Chikkadpally where I found an almost brand new copy of ‘Tropical Classical’ by Pico Iyer. I preferred to buy this copy of “Tropical Classical’ over Octavio Paz’s ‘In Light of India’ and Richard Dawkins’ ‘The God Delusion’ that I wanted to buy but couldn’t. Maybe next Sunday if the books are around I will pick them up first thing in the morning.

Kitchdi Post- The Sunday Haul and Other stuff

A Cancelled Trip It would have been a kind of a personal record had last week’s planned trip to Chennai materialized. Unfortunately, the railway reservation wasn’t confirmed dashing my hopes for creating a personal record of making three trips in a single month. Earlier in the month I had been to New Delhi and a day later to Tirupati and a week later I was scheduled to go to Chennai. But things did not work out since I was on a waitlist and my reservation was not confirmed. I waited with hope until the last minute. I was looking forward to the visit to Chennai and after that disappointment I cancelled another trip to Pune later this week. One thing I learnt about the whole experience was that one had to get unused railway ticket cancelled as soon as possible preferably on the same day. It was my mistake not being aware of the rules for getting refunds for railway tickets not used. I had thought that being on Waitlist I would get a refund easily whenever I presented the ticket. But when I went to get my refund I was in for a shock. It seems the rules say I have to present the ticket for cancellation within 12 hours. I went a day later with the result that I had to go to Rail Nilayam in Secunderabad and fill an application form. It seems I have to wait for nearly three weeks to know if I could be considered for a refund. Back to Airtel Six months ago if anyone had asked me what I thought about Airtel I would have told them that I would never, ever go for Airtel even if they paid me to become their subscriber. Exactly in September 201 our office decided to opt for BSNL under the number portability scheme because Airtel wasn’t offering good service. But now just six months later, we are bidding goodbye to BSNL and embracing Airtel again. This, perhaps, is the ultimate irony. Happy with BSNL I voiced my opposition to the plan to return to Airtel but in the government things are different. So now I am back to the routine of running out of the house every time I get a call on my mobile. But this time if I get a message from Airtel that they are charging me for using Airtel radio they are going to listen to some music themselves. The Sunday Haul After a bumper haul of Spenser titles the previous Sunday at Abids, I could pick up only one book this Sunday. At one of the sellers at Chikkadpally I found Bertrand Russell’s ‘The Conquest of Happiness.’ At the end of the brief preface Bertrand Russell’s writes ‘It is in the belief that many people who are unhappy could become happy by well-directed effort that I have written this book.’ No points for guessing why I want to read this book especially since I got the book for free. The seller did not accept money from me as earlier I had given him quite a number of old and not so well known titles that I had with me.