Second Hand Books

When was the first time that i bought a new book from the shelf?

I hardly remember. School and University was on scholarship, which included books and food. So no question of buying a text book. Either because people  must have taken me for a voracious reader or  they must have considered me ill-read in need of some good books to read - i ended up over the years with a decent collection of books.

But  when did i buy the first new book.

During the early eighties when i used to come to Bangalore for my school vacation, i first picked up a Hadley Chase book for Re 0.75 in Majestic, Bangalore, from the platform.  This was my first purchase of a book. With hardly any money  in my pocket. the choice to buy was restricted to anything that was cheapest , yet good for my taste .While reading was a religious hobby, i had not been a serious buyer ever. But a compulsive borrower.

Soon i made it a habit of buying books on platform. I hated the glossy showcased book stores and considered them veritable sources of irritants, created and funded by the affluent public to highlight how poor i was and how unaffordable the good books were (a schoolboy's frustrations are always weird).

The book i remember most from my platform collection is RK Narayan's English Teacher. The book must have changed atleast a hundred hands before being dumped into a second-hand seller's warehouse as i could see a dog's collar almost in every page. Since i had heard so much about this one, i bought it for a little over 1.00 Rupee. It has been my most cherished purchase ever.

In the next few years, my collection swell to over a hundred. books.  Sometimes i would buy a book clearly knowing i would never open the pages, but i wanted to demonstrate my interests in everything that mattered.

And when i found my first job and left my home-town i left these books behind (i thought i would be rich enough soon to buy fresh from the press) and carried only the English Teacher with me. I also made a note of Mysore Publications, which was the indian franchisee probably for all of RKN's reprints. And thought of going all the way to Mysore to buy all his writings (if possible even a royalty).

But habits die hard. Neither i bought all his books nor i graduated into buying books from book-stores. The joys of buying a second hand book  from a platform vendor was too good to be discarded.  

Even today i buy second hand books. It has got nothing to do with affordability. Nor is it an outcome of  my philosophy in life about reading. 

In recent years, i have even started buying books sold in traffic signals and pavements, that are new and obviously pirated ones.  I, perhaps, dont see in piracy a serious crime.  I believe imitation is the best form of admiration. Equally believe that the inventors of copying machine and other similar gadgets found in their invention a karmic contribution to the world of reproduction chain.  Therefore, all that i need is fodder for my reading needs and it hardly matters who serves that.

Update: I have still not bought my first new book from a Higgin Botham's or Crossword. My wife does.