Yesterday’s visit came about for one main reason. I had to deliver a bottle of mango pickles to Vinod, my friend. Every summer Shruti makes this sweet pickle out of raw ‘elephant’ mangoes, red chillies, and vinegar (and sugar), and some summers ago, just on a hunch Shruti kept aside a small bottle of this pickle for Vinod. I gave it to him on one of our Sunday meetings and he liked it immensely. Since then, Shruti makes a small batch for him every summer, more or less. So, that was my mission of the day. I reached Abid’s before Vinod yesterday. Unlike the last time, this Sunday all the booksellers seemed to be in attendance. More stalls, more books.
But it was too hot. I had my hat on and went browsing. I have learnt to go with an open mind to Abid’s, and allow myself to be surprised. Not many surprises yesterday, but there was this huge pile of books with a whole lot of very interesting and good books. Lots of old Pan Books titles, and some Tom Sharpe titles, very tempting!
Five years ago, I would have bought at least 10 books from this pile. I am older and wiser now, and more importantly, I am being hemmed in by books from all sides in my room. Nevertheless, I picked up two books from this pile – John Fowles’ ‘The Ebony Tower’ and D. H. Lawrence’s ‘Love among the Haystacks and other Stories.’ The Ebony Tower is a collection of novellas and the other one is a collection of stories. Even if I read two novellas and two stories from each, my trip would be worth it, I thought.
Around then, Vinod texted saying that he has reached. I went around for some more time, and started walking back to our starting point, The Star of India Café. I peeked in, he was not there in his usual seat. So, I browsed around among the stalls near the Café. I was delighted to find a whole lot of Tintin and Asterix comics.
I am absolutely crazy about Asterix comics and find them so delightful. I understand that the world is divided into Tintin lovers and Asterix lovers. I like both, but will always buy an Asterix if a choice is given. I had read or have most of the Tintins that were displayed, but I was not sure about the Asterixes. I do have a substantial collection of Asterixes, but was a bit confused. There was one title that I was sure I hadn’t read. It was a hardback edition ... ‘Asterix and the Actress.’ I succumbed.
Vinod had arrived at the Café by that time and we went in for our tryst with des-Tea-ny. I gave the pickles bottle first, and the over samosas and osmanias and invigorating Irani chai, we chatted for a long time about books, and mostly about the state of the nation and the ongoing elections. He had brought two books for me ... Charles Portis’ True Grit and Olga Tokarczuk’s Flights. I hadn’t read either and they were welcome gifts. Thank you, Vinod Bhai!
I had made the rounds, bought three books, got two more as gifts, had a nice chat, had chai and snacks, and I was ready to return home. Vinod hadn’t gone around the stalls yet and so he set off on his book-hunt.
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