Ruskin Bond's World: Thematic Influences of Nature, Children, and Love in his Major Works

By Gulnaz Fatma

Ruskin Bond has won the hearts of millions of readers with his countless charming short stories and introspective novels. From biographical tales about acting as a grandfather to children, to tales of unrequited love, the cross-cultural dimensions of Indian society, and the power and beauty of nature, Bond's more than forty novels and short story collections have made him an internationally acclaimed author.
In Ruskin Bond's World, Indian scholar Gulnaz Fatma, Ph.D. sheds light on one of her country's greatest and most beloved storytellers, tracing the influences in his stories from a childhood in colonial India through his time spent in Britain and his life today among India's hills and mountains. She explores the biographical as well as the imaginary elements of his fiction and explores in detail the themes of nature, children, love, and animals in his novels and short stories. Throughout these pages is revealed Bond's love for humanity in all its variety, from honorable rogues to proud beggars, heartbroken lovers, and wise old men and women.
"Gulnaz has successfully traced major themes in Bond's prolific work under the lenses of her careful examination, proving he is the product of his environment...a sincere study of Ruskin Bond."
--Stephen Gill, Ph.D., author and poet laureate of Ansted University
"I welcome this long overdue study of one of India's literary shining lights. Ruskin Bond's World opens the door to a deeper understanding of one author's imagination and deepest wisdom."
--Tyler R. Tichelaar, Ph.D. and award-winning author of The Gothic Wanderer
Literary Criticism: Asian - Indic

• Language: English
• Publisher: Modern History Press
• Release date: Nov 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781615992003

Gulnaz Fatma

Gulnaz Fatma, PhD is an Indian writer and author. She is a research scholar in the Department of English at Aligarh Muslim University in Aligarh, India. Fatma is a dynamic personality in literature studies who has published many articles in national and international journals. She is the author of a critical book titled A Short History of the Short Story: Western and Asian Traditions published by Modern History Press, USA, and she is currently writing a novel on the themes of immigration and multiculturalism.

Book preview

Introduction

It is difficult to define the theme of a literary work, but various scholars have done the job in their own ways. The theme reflects a way of life and presents the vision of a writer. It is an outcome of a vague system and is expressed through the work of art. In every genre of literature, whether a short story or a novel, the theme of a literary work is an expression of a writer and his observation of things; hence the theme of a work is a reflection of an author’s own experiences, ideas, and the way he organizes everything in a perfect style.

According to contemporary literary studies, a theme is the main concern of the author, for it is a means of conveying whatever message, moral, or commentary he is trying to send regarding the said concept. For quite some time, a theme referred to a message or moral, but the literary critics have now given up this concept to avoid confusion regarding the subject of discussion and composition. The previous usage led to the problem of conflation of subject and theme, but the new terminology put an end to this confusion.

Thus, according to recent scholarship and pedagogy, identifying a story’s theme does not necessarily involve identifying the story’s claims, for instance about the definitions, properties, values, or significance of the concept of death. Like morals or messages, themes often explore similar recognizable ideas that are quite clear in their expression. Along with plot, character, setting and style, theme is one of the important components of fiction.

In his writing, Ruskin Bond records his own experience of life and his observations about things and people, which left an abiding effect on his mind. Hence, he created stories from his surroundings. He employs a variety of themes in his stories. They pertain to love, pets, animals, children, and objects of nature. His sober temperament affected his lifestyle. He had a polite and highly adjustable personality like his father. His melancholy and love of solitude, and also his lack of resources, did not allow him to get married and lead a happy life. Ruskin Bond was a voracious reader, which is evident from the variety of themes he uses in his short stories. He read about fifteen thousand books during his school days, and then he started his career as a writer. The repetitive themes in his works include his relationship with his father, his mother’s desertion, cross-culture dimensions set by society, love of nature, unrequited love, and, changes taking place in India each day.

Although Ruskin Bond took up serious themes for his stories, they are never dull. Bond couches the themes in an interesting story to attract the common reader. His attention is focused on middle class men and women who follow their own ways of life. He writes about beggars—villagers who may be poor and yet have their point of honor, which the author reveals through his stories. Bond thinks that even a rogue has his point of honor, and a virtuous person has his point of dishonor. He therefore loves mankind. He has written about every aspect of life. From childhood to old age, he writes about experiences and incidents from his life. His favorite themes are: nature, animals, orphans, children, unrequited love, and wise old men and women.

Chapter One – Shaping Influences on Ruskin Bond’s Life

Ruskin Bond, renowned master short story writer, was born on May 19, 1934 at Kasauli (Himachal Pradesh) India. He is the eldest child of the late Aubrey Alexander Bond, who was a British officer in the Royal Air Force in India. His sister, named Edith Allen, was born in Dehra in 1936. She was a victim of childhood polio, which left her with disabilities requiring special care and attention. Edith lived with her grandmother, but Bond grew up with his father in Jamnagar (Gujarat), Dehradun and Shimla.

Ruskin Bond had his primary education in the boarding school in Mussoorie. In his autobiography, Scenes from a Writer’s Life, Bond refers frequently to fond memories of his father. He describes in detail the days he spent with his father at Jamnagar, Dehradun, and Shimlad. His father’s job required several relocations, so Bond and his father visited new places and surroundings. This provided him ample experiences relating to different countries, cultures, geography, and political history, and it also developed his general awareness of things. Bond also got an opportunity to attend the classes his father arranged for Indian princes and princesses because Aubrey Bond was appointed in the princely state of Jamnagar as tutor guardian to the royal children. Ruskin Bond stayed in Jamnagar for five years, where he came closer to Indian culture than any other British child in India. He grew up in the company of little princes and princesses and was also friendly with his Indian cook, ayah (nursemaid), and gardener, and he did not mind differences of caste or social status. Ruskin Bond collected a lot of information during his stay at Jamnagar. After a span of forty years, he wrote a story The Room of Many Colors about one of the rooms in the palace, which was on top and full of small windows.

During this time, Ruskin Bond lived in a Tennis Bungalow surrounded by forests, with many species of trees, flowers, and bushes, where his father introduced him to the trees as the best friends of human beings. He always remembered this, and today, he still prefers nature to people whenever he feels gloomy. He also cultivated an interest in cinema and enjoyed going to see the movies along with his father. They saw movies like Bitter Sweet (1933), an operetta by Noel Coward, and Tarzan of the Apes. Bond always remembered the happy days at Jamnagar because it was the best time he spent with his father whom he loved very much.

Bond was taught his first lessons from his father, who inspired him to read the classics of children’s literature, and he also enjoyed reading comics. His favorite book was Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, which made him aware of the absurd aspects of life. Young Bond loved to wander about in the palace grounds and uninhabited places, which had the same attraction for him. It was also a difficult time for him because Bond’s parents were not getting along. Edith’s disabilities were also a cause of disturbance and aloofness for them. The most terrific and sad experience for Bond was when he was sent to a convent school at the hill station of Mussoorie because his father had to go to Delhi in 1941 during World War II. Bond wrote about this in Life with My Father:

The War wasn’t going too well for England in 1941, and it wasn’t going too well for me either, for I found myself interned in a convent school in the hill station of Mussoorie.¹

Ruskin Bond was sent to Hampton Court School at Mussoorie at the tender age of seven, where he spent an unhappy year, although he enjoyed receiving postcards of the Gran Pop Series from his father. While he never felt a sense of belonging to the school, it was not a source of unhappiness. His mother quite unexpectedly withdrew him from school and put him on the night train to Delhi without any discussion. His father received him at the Delhi railway station where he came to know about the separation of his parents. Bond was left in the custody of his father while Edith had to live with their paternal grandmother, Glorina Bond, in Calcutta. His brother William, who was born in Dehra in 1942, was taken by his mother.

He learned that his mother was resolved to marry a Punjabi businessman, Harbans Lal Hari, who owned a used car showroom and an auto repair shop in Dehra. Mr. Hari had deserted his wife for Mrs. Bond. But these two years were a golden period of Ruskin Bond’s life when he stayed with his father, although he also shared the pain of his father who was forced to give up his mother. His father’s heart was totally broken and