The bookstore in Pune Airport uses space cleverly. There's hardly any room to browse inside, but the glass walls are showcases for best sellers.
I'd been warned that India was a booklover's paradise. Despite offloading 4 of my own books and tactfully leaving a couple of thrillers at the hotel, I returned with an even heavier suitcase.
My first acquisition was unexpected: Loving God by Baba Virsa Singh. I visited the community he founded and was inevitably interested in the religionless God he celebrates. Salman Rushdie's fable for his second son is perfect time-out reading. A couple of Indian chicklit items by Farahad Zama and Rupa Gulab charmed me on the long plane trips home. Aruna Jethwani warns me up front of her stern intentions: Socio-religious issues have been my main concern. Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay looks to be more "literary".
Topics? God, fantasy, marriage, marriage, marriage, marriage.
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