10 BEST RUSKIN BOND STORIES
Ruskin Bond is a regular name you keep hearing on and on in any household across the world. We all, probably, grew up listening to the legendary wit, morality, love and passion he embeds his stories and books with. With the fluid voice of words of this Indian author, his work is enriched with humanity, appealing extravagantly to the literati. This Sahitya Akademi Award winner is a Padma Shri and a Padma Bhushan awardee as well. Ruskin Bond received the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. He lives with his family in Mussoorie, India.
Here is a list of his best short-stories:
- THE NIGHT TRAIN AT DEOLI
“The pure, the bright, the beautiful, that stirred our hearts in youth, The impulse to wordless prayer, the dreams of love and truth; The longings after something lost, the spirit’s yearning cry, The striving after better hopes … these things can never die,” The Night Train at Deoli, Ruskin Bond.
The Night Train at Deoli is a story of adolescent infatuation presented with great sensitivity. It expresses the narrator’s love for a poor basket-seller whom he encounters at a small station while on his way to Dehradun. He meets the girl only twice, never to see her again, but she remains in his memory ever after.
2. TIME STOPS AT SHAMLI
Shamli is a small place in the foothills of the Himalayas. Whenever the narrator travels to Delhi from Dehradun or vice versa, the train stops at Shamli exactly for five minutes. What catches the narrator’s attention is that no one boards or deboards the train. He questions himself, “Why does it stop there?” He is curious about this place. He wants to know what lies behind the station walls, behind the forest that starts immediately after the station platform. And so one day, he musters the courage and gets off the train at Shamli. What happens in Shamli, forms this sweet story.
3. MAHARANI
Neena is the widowed Maharani of Mastipur. She is a spoilt, selfish and beautiful mother of two sons — both of whom are good for nothing. It is a novella about love, friendship and death. Ruskin Bond, the author, is an old friend of Neena. And he observes her antics, willing to never give up on her and their friendship. The Maharani lives with her dogs and her caretaker, Hans, in an enormous old house in Mussoorie, always remaining indomitable.
4. WHEN DARKNESS FALLS
Markham is a scarred war-veteran living a renounced life. Unsurprisingly, his life turns into a nightmare as his frustration bawls out of control. This leads to a series of events which make him end in tragedy.
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5. THE CHERRY TREE
In this sweet, bite-sized story by Ruskin Bond, he has shown how love for nature rewards us. Rakesh, a young boy plants a cherry seed in his garden. He nurtures the plant as it first develops into a twig, then a sapling, a plant and then, finally into a beautiful cherry tree. The tree goes through it’s natural and unnatural disasters, some which Rakesh could handle, some which he couldn’t. On his 9th birthday, the cherry tree finally blossoms, rewarding his unconditional love, care, patience and perseverance.
6. A HANDFUL OF NUTS
For all those wanting to become a future Ruskin, this can be the archetype for you. This classic coming-of-age story depicts the journey of a 21-year old man who wants to become a writer. His quest to be an established writer is constantly interrupted by distractions like romance and adventures. It is an inspirational story about how a young man realises his dreams.
7. A FLIGHT OF PIGEONS
Bond has disposed a tint of drama to this short story. Set in 1857 Shahajanpur, A Flight of Pigeons is a trauma of fate and humanity, eloquently penned by the author. The story follows the twists and turns of Ruth Labadoor’s life after the death of her father in an attack. Who comes into the story is more likely to be called the ‘twist’ of the play, Javed Khan, a Pathan opposed to the British. With abhorrence for the Britishers and love for Ruth, Javed abducts Ruth and her mother.
8. RUSTY, THE BOY FROM THE HILLS
Like many of Ruskin’s stories, this one too is based in Dehradun. Rusty, the protagonist, is a sensitive and imaginative adolescent boy. The story is set in the pre-independence era. How his life is made adventurous rather than being entangled by the queer things which keep happening around him, make the story fascinating.
9. THE SENSUALIST
The Sensualist is an erotic novella by Ruskin Bond. The story created a lot of stir when it was first published, being charged with obscenity. It is a tale about a man’s sexual awakening and his eventual surrender to libido.
10. THE BLUE UMBRELLA
The story is about a little girl Binya, who lives in Garhwal. A foreigner gives Binya a beautiful blue umbrella. Ram Bharosa runs a small shop and sells warm coca-cola bottles and sweets to school-going kids. Binya’s blue umbrella becomes an obsession for Ram Bharosa when Binya refuses to give it to him. A series of events follow Ram Bharosa’s quest to get the umbrella from Binya. The story was adapted into a Hindi film with the same name in 2005.
His stories are a long, deep and meaningful meditation on living life with morals and principles. At its heart, all of Bond’s works live up to their hype.
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