All in a Day's Work

This pile of books was the result of this Saturday’s outing….not a bad day’s haul, and the majority of the titles were mine, for a switch.  I’m not sure if I’ve written about this before, but the cost of books here is obscenely low.  Not so low that we aren’t buying the books, mind you, just very low.  I worry a little about putting this in print because the Inscrutable Panda is coming to town in about a month, and she may need an extra piece of luggage when she leaves.

The best bookstore S has scouted in Jaipur is Rajat Book Corner, whose motto is  “Your Partner in Knowledge”.  Nice. It’s a very small retail space with quite a large quality inventory.  He is also just the person you want running a bookstore: he loves books and loves to talk about them. His organization system is a mystery to me, and I believe sometimes it’s a puzzle to him as well, but it suits him and if he can find the book, that’s all that matters.  He was talking about his crusade to get parents to have their kids read outside of school, because it’s not something thought of as beneficial.  We had no point of reference for that, as about 20 tubs in our basement at 345 Magowan contain children’s books we didn’t donate to the library, but are saving to read in our old age, I guess!  He is also the organizer of a free public library in Jaipur, with 5,000 titles, mostly children’s books.  Book lovers are passionate people, what can I say?

The owner’s crusades made me grateful yet once again for Prairie Lights Bookstore, its inventory and its staff, and the entire city’s attitude toward literacy and reading.  It has helped make two voracious readers out of our children, and fed our habits as well.  Thanks, P. Lights!  You were our favorite expenditure on the Quicken budget ledger, placed squarely under “heavenly entertainment.”  The ICPL was the other IC institution brought to mind during our conversation, and the cost there was free.  Well, almost.  We did manage to have some fees assessed pretty regularly for overdues, but we just considered it the cost of business in our family.  If you’re not finished with the book, it’s immoral to think of returning it, right?  That was our attitude anyway.

Thali at 4 Points Sheraton

Lunch Thali at Kanji, mainly a mithai (sweet) shop.
This was great and only 300 Rupees.  300 for all this food.

making a sweet, up to his elbows!

The finished product, beautiful to see.

After our successful foray to the bookstore we visited a favorite watering hole to indulge in another activity in which our family excels, eating.  Yesterday’s fare was a thali meal for me, and it was out of sight fantastic. Actually I had two thali meals this week (that I can remember) and I thought I should tell everyone that thalis are perhaps the perfect way to experience Indian food.  As the picture shows you, it’s a set meal of several dishes in small metal bowls on a round tray, with some regulars like dal, raita, and some rice or bread always 

included.  They have veg and nonveg (as carnivores are politely referred to here) and you can’t go wrong either way.  It’s a great way to try several of the dishes on the menu without getting a huge portion.  The one I got yesterday would have fed two people….oh wait, it did.  S. started staring at my meal as soon as it came, and you all know what comes next.  It was a great meal, but we missed our favorite waiter, who was down with a cold.  It just wasn’t the same without the incredible friendly face and attitude of our 4-Points Sheraton friend, but we’ll be back.  The coffee ice cream is reason enough to visit, but we’ve got several other tasty ones as well.