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I feel that the best way to mark each trip out of town is to buy a book from the place that you visit and make a mention of it on the first page of the book; date and place. And my recent trip to Delhi was no exception.

Browsing at the footpath book stalls at CP is one of the most enjoyable pastimes there is. They stock all manner of books, from fiction to nonfiction, humour, health, travel, maps, magazines; it’s all there.  Probably because of the fact that there is no bricks and mortar shop involved, these pavement book sellers of Delhi can sell their books at a lower cost than a shop. There is also the fact that a lot of the books sold here are the pirated variety, so that is something one may need to be wary about.

In the past I have bought some lovely coffee table books from the Delhi footpath, (such as the Reader’s Digest photo compilation of dogs) and a couple of Dilbert and Peanuts books all at quite substantial discounts from the marked price. What you can also find with these footpath booksellers is second hand books which tourists flog off if they don’t want to carry the extra load on board their flight. If you are lucky you may find a good condition ‘Lonely Planet’ at a fraction of its original price.

This time around I bought just a couple of magazines and the latest Delhi map from the pavement book sellers. Several things deterred me:  the mind numbing heat I have to confess played a part; then there was a fact that you can’t really browse through books while at the same time trying to keep track of what your 3 and 5 year olds are up to. Also the fact that I have become somewhat high minded in that I refuse to buy pirated books, if I can afford to, I will shell out the extra and make sure the authors get the royalty they deserve.

So I headed to my old haunt Jain book Depot (http://www.jainbookagency.com/default.asp) at CP.  The AC there ensured that I was in a convivial buying mood and the sweets at the counter and an affable uncle kept the girls busy at least for a while. I was going to wait for Arvind Adiga’s paperback version of The White Tiger, but then I just bought it because I have been meaning to read the book for quite a while now. I thought it was time my five year old daughter learned about Mahatma Gandhi, so I got an Amar Chitra Katha on his life as well from there. Couple of activity books for the girls and I had enough to mark my Delhi trip with!