It was 27th September 2020. The country was partially under
lockdown. Like most other office-goers, I was at home since the third week of
March that year. In the evening, I got a phone call from Mr Sunil Arora, the
proprietor of Cambridge Book Depot, Mussoorie. He sounded joyous. Not waiting
for my reply to his hello, he said, "Ekta, there's good news for you.
Check your Whatsapp immediately." And he cut the call. There were two
pictures in my message box. It took a few moments for the pictures to download,
but I could make something from the silhouette of one among those. It was Mr.
Bond. All this made me more curious. When I opened the pictures, my heart
skipped a beat. The first picture was of Ruskin Bond writing something. And the
second picture was of a letter written in purple ink. I, at once, recognised
the handwriting. It was written by Ruskin Bond and was addressed to the members
of the group 'Ruskin, the Radiant Bond', my Ruskin Bond fan group on Facebook.
During the lockdown in 2020, I had taken full advantage of my
being at home (or better, 'being away from work'). I was a book reader, always.
But lockdown turned me into an avid reader and a beginner in the field of
writing. This period also saw me as initiating a common platform for the fans
of Ruskin Bond on Facebook. This fan group made me crave for re-reading of all
the books of Ruskin Bond I had. I never forgot to share my views about those
books with my co-readers and co-fans of Ruskin Bond. People were now more
interested in books, not only for them but also for their children, to keep
them engaged in their free time and to keep them more and more away from mobile
phones, video games, and television. Cambridge Book Depot was connected with us
all the time. The CBD team proved as Santa. They helped to satiate the hunger
for books when all the local bookstores were shut down for the time being.
Okay! I got it that online sites were always in service, then why I am singing
laurels for CBD? Mind it, I don't call them Santa for nothing. They were
sending books to Ruskin Bond's fans, but those were not simply books. Those
books were accompanied by Ruskin Bond bookmarks, badges, and notepads, and were
exclusively autographed by the author himself with personalised messages for
the fans. All one had to do back then was to WhatsApp the details to the CBD
team and within a week parcel would be at your doorstep. I was one among those
thousands of lucky people who ordered several Ruskin Bond books from CBD and got
the autographed copies. The feeling was marvellous.
The writer might be busy signing hundreds of copies instead of
creating something new for his fans. So he asked Mr. Sunil Arora about this and
was ecstatic to know that there was a group of fans on Facebook who loved to
read and discuss his books and were promptly buying the books from CBD. He
acknowledged our love and respect for him. He wrote a letter for the group
members and gave it to Mr Sunil Arora to share with everyone. And this was how
I got one of the best gifts during lockdown 2020.
In May 2023 I visited CBD for Mr Bond's 89th birthday. Mr Arora
handed over the letter to me which was kept till now in its original condition
- no folds and no spots. Since September 2020, I'd asked Mr Arora several times
to send the letter to me via post or through a few friends who visited
Mussoorie. But he was adamant about giving the letter to me in person only as
he knew how precious it was to me.
I have had thousands of gifts since the day I was born, but there are some gifts whose value cannot be measured in money. These are priceless and are always treasured. This letter is one among those.
-Ekta Kubba
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