recommended his shop. He displayed the cutting for two years after that. I still
get a twenty-five per cent discount on every purchase.
'You have organic chemistry by L.G.Wade?' I said. I would have done more
small talk, but I wanted to avoid talking about Vidya. In fact, I didn't even want
him to look at Vidya.
'Well, yes,' the shopkeeper said, taken aback by my abruptness.
'Chemistry book, red and white balls on the cover,' he screamed .it one of his
five assistants.
'This is a good book,' I said as I tapped the cover and gave it to Vidya. 'Other
organic chemistry books have too much to memorise. This one explains the
principles.'
Vidya took the book in her hand. Her red nail polish was the same colour as
the atoms on the cover.
'Flip through it, see if you like it,' I said.
She turned a few pages. The shopkeeper raised an eyebrow. He was asking me
about the girl. See this is the reason why people think Ahmedabad is a small
town despite the multiplexes. It is the mentality of the people.
'Student, I take tuitions,' I whispered to satisfy his curiosity lest he gave up
sleeping for the rest of his life. He nodded his head in approval. Why do these old
people poke their nose in our affairs so much? Like, would we care if he hung out
with three grandmas?
'If you say it is good, I am fine,' she said, finishing her scan. 'Good, and in
physics, have you ever read Resnick and Halliday?'
'Oh, I saw that book at my friend's place once. Just the table of contents
depressed me. It's too hi-fi for me.'
'What is this "hi-fi"? It is in your course, you have to study it,' I said, my voice
stern.
'Don't they have some guides or something?' she said, totally ignoring my
comment.
'Guides are a short cut. They solve a certain number of problems. You need to
understand the concepts.'
The shopkeeper brought out the orange and black cover Resnick and Halliday.
Yes, the cover was scary and dull at the same time, something possible only in
physics books.
'I won't understand it. But if you want to, let's buy it,' Vidya agreed.
'Of course, you will understand it. And uncle, for maths do you have M.L.
Khanna?'
I could see his displeasure in me calling him uncle, but someone needed to
remind him.
'Maths Khanna,' the shopkeeper shouted. His assistants pulled out the yellow
and black tome. Now if Resnick and Halliday is scary, M.L. Khanna is the
Exorcist. I haven't seen a thicker book and every page is filled with the hardest
maths problems in the world. It was amusing that a person with a friendly name
like M.L Khanna could do this to the students of our country.
'What is this?' Vidya said and tried to lift the book with her left hand. She
couldn't. She used both hands and finally took it six inches off the ground. 'No,
seriously, what is this? An assault weapon?'
'It covers every topic,' I said and measured the thickness with the fingers of my
right hand, the four fingers fell short.
avery
(avery)
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