“Inside of me … I am all
lonely”
This most beautifully
written and heartfelt novel is a story of a teenage boy, who steps out of the
cocooned precincts of his guardian's house, to live the 'real life' in
‘forbidden India’, in the city of Dehra. It is the first novel written by
Ruskin Bond when he was only 17. And at this very early age, he introduced the
world with the character of a lonely, friendly and adventurous Rusty, who
‘wants to be either somebody or nobody’ and who doesn’t ‘belong anywhere and
thus ‘belong everywhere’. Initially Rusty is an introvert, not very talkative
or wanting to make friends outside. He’s the centre of attention in his
European community but is a very lonely boy, lost in his world of fantasies and
dreams. Unhappy with the strict ways of his English guardian, Rusty runs away
from home to live with Indian friends. Plunging for the first time into the
dream-bright world of the bazaar, Hindu festivals and other aspects of Indian
life, Rusty is enchanted.
The book is full of Ruskin
Bond's simple imagery, minute observations of nature, sounds and smells and
visions. From the streets of Dehra to the typical European household; this book
takes one to all those places, from the point of view of a teenager. Instantly,
one is pulled into the streets of Paltan Bazaar, the adjoining clocktower, the
downhill Rajpur road, the maidan, the chaat shop, the room on the roof- its
four walls, a door and a window, the shoot of pink bougainvillaea creeper,
which Rusty ‘knew he would never cut it; and so he knew he would never be able
to shut the window’- the bald Maina, and the twenty-two steps to the room.
I loved the book for its
portrayal of friendship also. The ‘best favourite friends’ of Rusty- Somi and
Ranbir- and Kishen, who is jungli,
divorced from the rest of mankind, and Rusty was the only one who understood
him because Rusty too was divorced from mankind.
Read this book if you want
to clear your mind, read it for its simple yet stunning descriptions. The book
approaches at an amazing pace making the urge to read ahead even stronger with
every word you read, and before you know it, you are regretting that you are
already on the last page. Although written for adolescents when the author
himself was 17, it is a book for all ages.
This book is simply
profound and profoundly simple.
(18th August 2014)
-Ekta Kubba
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