It all started with a book that I purchased at the airport en route to Chennai in December. The bookcover was fascinating- it was covered with flowers, a lady sitting in the middle, and a boy standing near her. The title of the book was "The Prospect of flowers" written by Ruskin Bond. I will confess. I purchased the book solely for the cover as I had already ready the short story "The valley of flowers" in Reader's Digest long back. I had loved that story. The volume contained some stories that I had not read before including "The Blue Umbrella" that was made into a movie by Vishal Bhardwaj.
I went on to purchase two more books- Rusty Runs Away and Landour Days- at the book fair.
I like Ruskin Bond because of the language he uses (simple not convulated) and the stories he tells of people you and me meet every day on the streets. Sure some of the stories are recycled. The Prospect of Flowers was also present in Rusty Runs Away as an incident that happens to Rusty. I also felt Rusty was semi-autobiographical, a story of a school boy who is an orphan for all practical purposes. He has a guardian whom he dislikes He is sent to a boarding school and the book tells of his adventures. It ends with Rusty leaving the guardianship and striking out on his own. It is set in the pre-partition India and the most evocative story was the friendship between Rusty and Omar. On partition, Omar moves to Pakistan and dies in India-Pakistan war.
The final book that I read was Landour Days. I read this book sitting in the UGC office while waiting for my turn to present before the committee. Ruskin Bond is an inveterate dairy writer and I enjoyed his reflections. The best part of the book was his musing on Landour, the writers who flock there, the houses built by the colonists that are empty and decaying now, John Lang-the lawyer to the Rani of Jhansi- who is buried there, and a gentle pace of life that is missing in the cities.
I went on to purchase two more books- Rusty Runs Away and Landour Days- at the book fair.
I like Ruskin Bond because of the language he uses (simple not convulated) and the stories he tells of people you and me meet every day on the streets. Sure some of the stories are recycled. The Prospect of Flowers was also present in Rusty Runs Away as an incident that happens to Rusty. I also felt Rusty was semi-autobiographical, a story of a school boy who is an orphan for all practical purposes. He has a guardian whom he dislikes He is sent to a boarding school and the book tells of his adventures. It ends with Rusty leaving the guardianship and striking out on his own. It is set in the pre-partition India and the most evocative story was the friendship between Rusty and Omar. On partition, Omar moves to Pakistan and dies in India-Pakistan war.
The final book that I read was Landour Days. I read this book sitting in the UGC office while waiting for my turn to present before the committee. Ruskin Bond is an inveterate dairy writer and I enjoyed his reflections. The best part of the book was his musing on Landour, the writers who flock there, the houses built by the colonists that are empty and decaying now, John Lang-the lawyer to the Rani of Jhansi- who is buried there, and a gentle pace of life that is missing in the cities.
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