Bookstore in Pune

We have met some amazing people in Pune, India, for our research. We also get stopped frequently on the street by young women who want to take their picture with us. We are nearly always the only white people on the streets, and we get a lot of stares. We also get a lot of women and children trying out their English on us. “Hello! How are you?” they say. We wave and smile.

The above picture was taken in Pataleshwar Caves, and we had just stepped over a piece of poop (without shoes on, because it is an underground cave temple) when these girls asked us to stop and take a picture with them. You can tell that I don’t want to be standing there and smelling anything in this moment.

Here’s a better picture of the cave temple.

One of the women we interviewed shares my love for reading, so we asked her to recommend a bookstore. She suggested CrossWord, a three-story wonderland of books.

Here’s what I could not resist buying. I only paid about $35 for all of it.

And I got these for my oldest daughter. Arthur Ransome was familiar, but we haven’t read much of his work.

What a bookstore! Now I have to carry all of this stuff home, but it will be worth it.