Mr. Ruskin Bond - our very own Wordsworth

I met Ruskin Bond in 2010 or thereabouts through his books Funny Side Up and Crazy Times with Uncle Ken. I remember receiving ‘The Book of Nature’ as my first Ruskin Bond book as a gift. Since then, I’ve read and collected many of his books to name a few – The Room on the Roof, Vagrants in the Valley, A Handful of Nuts, The Blue Umbrella, Tales of Fosterganj, Memories of Hills and Dales, A Little Book on Magical Plants; and more recently- How to Be a Writer . I can’t say I’ve read all his books but yes, I’m a huge fan of his works that bring laughter and talk of the beauty of Nature.

I find his style is so easy to read and enjoy. The language he uses is lucid and just flows. No need to pick up a dictionary constantly or search for sources or references. The author in him glorifies the serenity and beauty of the hills, dales, vales, a blade of grass, the cherry tree, sweet peas, marigolds, insects, frogs, waterfalls, hidden pools... oh... I could just go on and on. It is not surprising that Mr. Bond is therefore called ‘our very own Wordsworth’. While I tell you about his precious relationship with Nature I mustn’t forget to draw your attention to his ‘Tigers for Dinner – Tall Tales by Jim Corbett’s Khansama’. He mentions delectable kebabs, cutlets, curries, biryanis and lamb chops that are enough to leave the readers salivating. There’s food, food and more food in his books. How can the reader not be hooked?

He’s a master of humour also. He was lucky to have eccentric Uncles or Aunts whom he could write about... he especially had his crazy Uncle Ken. It’s absolutely hilarious when Speedy and the other crows decide to hail Uncle Ken as St. Corvus and pay him their respects. And, how can I forget the ‘zig-zag walk’ Uncle Ken invented? Do you have any idea what the ‘zig-zag walk’ is? No? Let me tell you... it entails following a number of paths. These paths lead you to ‘halwais’, tea stalls, sugarcane fields, bakeries, etc. on the way home.

So, for years now I’ve been an ardent follower of Ruskin Bond. I’ve penned a Fantasy Series – The Ferns and Blooms Trilogy, in each book of which I have used quotes from this great author in the Introduction. In my most recent novel which is a romance – Gulmohar Love, not only have I quoted him in the Introduction but in the novel the protagonist confesses to being a Ruskin Bond admirer. I even penned a poem on Ruskin Bond for NaPoWriMo 2020 on a prompt given by The Significant League:

I Have a Dream...

I have a dream, a dream to visit

The man I love. The places are so vivid

which he has described in a book too many

I have read his books more than twenty

I want to see the place where he planted

The cherry tree, and the forests enchanted!

I wish to walk on the road that took him places

Sit on the wall where he sat reading faces

Penning down notes in his small diary

Creating stories, eerie, airy or merry

I want to explore the markets that

He visited to drink tea, buy ‘jalebis’ and ‘chaat’.

I wonder if I’ll meet the robins, crows and others

who inspired him with their songs or delightful feathers!

I want to see every nook and corner, every petal,

Every flower that inspired him even if it’s a nettle!

The cornflower blue sky of that place calls to me where,

He, at the stars and ever changing clouds, still stops to stare!

What would it be like to look out of the window of his room

where he still sits and writes looking down at trees in bloom?

I want to visit the Oxford Book Depot where he

Every Saturday comes to sign books and have a cup of tea!

Still wondering where in the World I would like to be?

Well, it is my dream to travel to Mr. Ruskin Bond, at Mussoorie!

It’s my dream to meet the man I love to read with the one I love

For me, travelling isn’t to a place but to someone or with the one, sort of!

*Jalebis - are popular Indian sweets made by deep-frying maida flour batter in circular shapes, which are then soaked in sugar syrup.

*Chaat - is a savoury Indian snack, typically served at roadside tracks from stalls or food carts.

Well... I have this dream to meet my favourite author, Mr. Ruskin Bond, someday...

By the way have you read Ruskin Bond? If you have, you will know how wonderful it is to read him. If not... you must, sooner than later!

Image Courtesy: Archana Sreenivasan, Columbia Pacific Communities