Waiting for Tuesdays

Now, we ( my sons and me) wait for Tuesdays. On Tuesdays, a mobile library van drives up into our colony. When it first came about 2 weeks ago, and we received the the little pamphlet advertising its services, my sons and me marched upto it in the scorching sun with Great Expectations. It was like a furnace inside- a furnace filled with books; and though Great Expectations were unfulfilled still we were quite happy. We plundered the insides like elephants let loose in a sugarcane field.

Now, why we are celebrating the occassion- that's because all these years it has been so difficult to get hold of books in English here. There are only a couple of libraries and those have books only in the vernacular or it is reference texts. We've been starved for books.

Each of us got home 3 books and proceeded to gorge on them the moment we reached home. Within the week, we had finished with our books and we were eagerly waiting for next Monday- and when Monday dawned and the van did not arrive we felt betrayed. However the van came again on Tuesday and that’s how it will be – Tuesdays.

On Tuesday once again my sons and myself braved the blazing sun and ransacked the furnace of books. I felt sorry for the librarian girl who was getting baked in the van.

As I type these words, I’ve finished with Jhumpa Lahiri’s ‘Interpreter of Maladies’ ( neat collection of stories, very real and simple) . I was hoping for 'Namesake', but I’m grateful for small mercies. And though I mourn the end of one book, the prospect of two more books awaiting me is exciting.