ABOUT THE WRITER

Ruskin Bond, (born. 19 May 1934) is an Indian author of British descent. In 1992, he received the Sahitya Akademi Award for his short story collection, Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra, given by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Literature. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1999 for contributions to children's literature. He now lives with his adopted family in Landour near Mussoorie. Life and career Ruskin Bond was born in a military hospital in [Kasauli] to Edith Clerke and Aubrey Bond. His siblings were Ellen and William. Ruskins father was with the Royal Air Force. When Bond was four years old, his mother was separated from his father and married a Punjabi-Hindu, Mr. Hari, who himself had been married once. Bond spent his early childhood in Jamnagar and Shimla. At the age of ten Ruskin went to live at his grandmother's house in Dehradun after his father's sudden death in 1944 from malaria. Ruskin was raised by his mother, who remarried an Indian businessman. He completed his schooling at Bishop Cotton School in Shimla, from where he graduated in 1952 after having been successful in winning several writing competitions in the school like Irwin Divinity Prize, Hailey Lietrature Prize . Ruskins love for books and writing came early to him since his father had surrounded him with books and encouraged him to write little descriptions of nature and he took his son on hikes in the hills. After his high school education he spent four years in England. In London he started writing his first novel, The Room on the Roof, the semi-

autobiographical story of the orphaned Anglo-Indian boy Rusty. It won the 1957 John Llewellyn Rhys prize, awarded to a British Commonwealth writer under 30. Bond used the advance money from the book to pay the sea passage to Bombay. He worked for some years as a journalist in Delhi and Dehradun. Since 1963 he has lived as a freelance writer in Mussoorie, a town in the Himalayan foothills.[1] He wrote Vagrants in the Valley, as a sequel to The Room on the Roof. These two novels were published in one volume by Penguin India in 1993. The following year a collection of his non-fiction writings, The Best Of Ruskin Bond was published by Penguin India. His interest in the paranormal led him to write popular titles such as Ghost Stories from the Raj, A Season of Ghosts, A Face in the Dark and other Hauntings. The Indian Council for Child Education recognised his pioneering role in the growth of children's literature in India, and awarded him the Sahitya Academi Award in 1992 for Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra. He received the Padma Shri in 1999. Media-shy, he currently lives in Landour, Mussoories Ivy Cottage, which has been his home since 1964. Based on Bond's historical novella A Flight of Pigeons (about an episode during the Indian Rebellion of 1857), the Hindi film Junoon was produced in 1978 byShashi Kapoor and directed by Shyam Benegal). Ruskin Bond made his maiden big screen appearance with a cameo in Vishal Bhardwaj's film 7 Khoon Maaf, based on his short story Susanna's Seven Husbands. Bond appears as a Bishop in the movie with Priyanka Chopra playing the title

role.[2] Bond

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Umbrella which was also based on his story. Literary style Most of his works are influenced by life in the hill stations at the foothills of the Himalayas, where he spent his childhood. His first novel, The Room On the Roof, was written when he was 17 and published when he was 21. It was partly based on his experiences at Dehra Dun, in his small rented room on the roof, and his friends. Since then he has written over three hundred short stories, essays and novels, including Vagrants in The Valley, The Blue Umbrella, Funny Side Up, A Flight of Pigeons and more than 30 books for children. He has also published two volumes of autobiography. Scenes from a Writer's Lifedescribes his formative years growing up in Anglo-India; The Lamp is Lit is a collection of essays and episodes from his journal. Bond said that while his autobiographical work, Rain in the Mountains, was about his years spent in Mussoorie, Scenes from a Writer's Life described his first 21 years. Scenes from a Writer's Life focuses on Bond's trip to England, his struggle to find a publisher for his first book The Room on the Roof and his yearning to come back to India, particularly to Doon. "It also tells a lot about my parents," said Bond. "The book ends with the publication of my first novel and my decision to make writing my livelihood," Bond said, adding, "basically it describes how I became a writer". His novel, The Flight of Pigeons, has been adapted into the Merchant Ivory film Junoon. The Room on the Roof has been adapted into a BBC-produced TV series. Several stories have been incorporated in the school curriculum in India, including "The Night Train at Deoli", "Time Stops at Shamli", and Our

Trees Still Grow in Dehra. In 2007, the Bollywood director Vishal Bharadwaj made a film based on his popular novel for children, The Blue Umbrella. The movie won the National Award for Best Children's film.

MY REVIEW

Ruskin Bond. How much do I loved this author. Not because I have read his work extensively, but because he is the first author that made me feel like I could love reading. He showed me that reading could be a pleasure which could transport you to a different world altogether. He gave me my first glimpse into how the reading world could be. All this because of one short story called The Cherry Tree The Cherry Tree is the story of a young boy from the hill station of Mussoorie who plants a cherry tree and watches it grow. Such a simple story but it evokes such beautiful imagery. We had this story in our curriculum as children and I seriously cannot recall the number of times I have read it. In fact I have still kept my English textbook just because of this one story. Thats the Ruskin Bond magic. My point being that when I saw the book A Face in the Dark and Other Hauntings in the library I picked it up. I couldnt wait to read it and I was not disappointed in the least. This collection of short stories has all kinds of stories, the theme being supernatural. There are stories of ghosts, fairies and jinns, most happening in the backdrop of the beautiful hill stations of Northern India. There is also Rudyard Kiplings and Sherlock Holmes Ghost. Ruskin Bond does not write complicated words, nor does he write complicated stories. These stories reminded me of stories Ive heard from my friends and relatives, of the time when we all used to settle down at night and make up ghost stories to frighten each other.

But none of the stories really scare you, they are simply meant to entertain. Almost all these stories are based in the mountains and in actual places, be it the story of the fairies on the Pari Tibba hill or stories based in the forests of India. Some of the stories are even hilarious but almost all make you smile as you read the last line. How many ghosts stories can you say that for? Please read this book. Its the simplicity of the stories which make them beautiful. They can be read by children as well as enjoyed by adults. I dont have the capability to rate this book but for me Ruskin Bond will always have a 5/5. Im adding this to the South Asian Authors Challenge. Although Ruskin Bond is British by birth, he was born in India and has stayed in India almost all his life. He writes about India and its people with as much love and affection. In fact, Ruskin Bond is Indias one of most favorite authors and his stories are included in textbooks in India.

SUMMARY
My school and college years were rife with paperbacks of all kinds, shapes and sizes. Many a weekend and late night was spent sprawled on the couch with a good (and sometimes not so good) read. I immensely enjoyed losing myself in the world conjured up by the author-magicians. Within the space of a book, whole worlds could be created, empires could rise and fall, the planet could be threatened, age-old mysteries could be solved, the killer could be discovered, disaster averted and true love could be fulfilled. And sometimes, if you were lucky, all within the same book. When I found a book I liked, I would often try and imagine what inspired the author to create it just like that. I remember trying to relate to the author, trying to identify a writing style an idea that was put into my head by one of our English teachers in the 7th standard, Mr. D-, when he called our attention to the prose style of a particular author. He came into class one day, read a few lines from a book and challenged us to guess who the author was. That gradually altered the way I read books. The books were no longer a singular entity by themselves, but just one point among many that defined the pattern that was the author. I would try to get multiple books and form a more complete picture of any author I liked. I rather enjoyed the selection of short stories compiled into our English texts. I can still recollect clearly my favorite stories and authors from those years when I was getting into my teens. Its hard to forget Sakis plot twists in The Phantom Luncheon and Dusk (the one with the bar of soap), Mr. Ys

hilarious essay on life Without glasses (I had just gotten my own pair around that time), the brilliant excerpts from E. R. Braithwaites To Sir, With Love, Jim Corbetts The Man-eaters of Kumaon and many others. Two stories, in particular, stand out for the extent to which they had captured my imagination. One was Ray Bradburys The Fog Horn. It was one of the longer stories in the compilation and I remember many of my class-mates disliking it for the extra material it meant we had to read for the exam. But I loved it the sense of desolation that he built into the story on many levels, the haunting description of the Deeps One can feel the chill in the air by the lighthouse, just reading the story.

The Night Train at Deoli book cover The other story that completely captivated me was Ruskin Bonds A Face in the Night. It was only about two pages long, but what an impact he had had on a juveniles psyche within those two pages! I was not young enough to be spooked, but not knowing what happened when the wind blew the lamp out was more than I could have been expected to bear at that age. I firmly

believed that there was more to the story, that we had just been given one small chapter from it. These were days before the Internet and I had queried all the adults I knew who had a reading habit, did my best looking in libraries and book stores for the rest of the book. I did eventually discover that this was a short story and Mr. Ruskin Bond had not carried the plot any further, and I realized how much impact two pages could have on the mind. To this day, I find Ruskin Bond unrivaled in the art of economically setting the context for his stories. Barely two or three sentences in, you find yourself emotionally bound to the protagonist and feel that youve known him for ages. The majority of his stories are in the first person with an autobiographical feel about them and you instantly identify in his characters a part that reacts, rejoices and grieves just like you. Last month, G- came back with a book from India Ruskin Bonds The Night Train at Deoli and other Stories. It contained the original version of the story, I noticed the authorities at the Central Board of Secondary Education who set our texts had taken the liberty of making a few minor edits, including taking out the first person narrative style. The Introduction to this compilation of short stories in his own hand, had me rolling in delight. It is vintage Ruskin Bond, and reminded me again of his mastery of the medium and why he is probably the most beloved writer of stories set in the mountains of Northern India.

CHARACTER SKETCH

Character sketch for Shiloh

Character Sketch In Bobbie Ann Mason's story "Shiloh" she presents the character of Norma Jean as having a strong personality but an emptiness deep within. Norma Jean is presented as a strong character on the outside in the opening of the story. "She lifts threepound dumbbells to warm-up, the progresses to a twenty-pound barbell."(Mason p. 46). However as the story progresses she exhibits the emptiness which she feels. "One day Leroy arrives home from a drive and finds Norma Jean in tears." (Mason p. 50). Norma Jean feels an emptiness toward her deceased child, her husband, and also her mother. Her emptiness toward her husband may be seen in the way she interacts with him. She feels very uncomfortable when she is around him. Norma Jean is always trying to find something for him to do. When he arrived back home Mason states the "she

seems a little disappointed." (Mason p. 47). The emptiness she feels toward her mother is presented in the feelings she has toward her. Her deceased son symbolizes her emptiness because of his death. In the beginning of the story Norma Jean tries to conceal the emptiness that she has felt for so many years. Mason first presents her as a strong character by explaining how she works out and would like to become stronger. She may become stronger physically, but nothing can overcome the emptiness which she feels. Norma Jean tries to help her husband get a job, and she gives him a variety of ideas for this. She does not enjoy being around him because their relationship makes her feel uncomfortable. Mason presents Norma Jean and Leroy as having many differences. The two do not know how to discuss their problems, therefore Norma Jean conceals all of the emptiness she feels inside her. Norma Jean feels an emptiness towards her husband because he has been

gone so long. She has learned how to live without him but, the emptiness settles in due...

BEST PART

It i's a fearsome task for authors to make readers feel afraid these days. They all seem to have been there, screamed at all that. Haunted houses are passe. Even murderous cellphones, toothy vaginas, mail order cannibals and happiness sucking insects have to pull out all stops to scare the readers. But what if the author doesn't try so hard to scare us at all? What if instead he tries to make us acquainted with individuals, not creatures, from the other side of the clearing, on a first name basis? These individuals are a little different, little darker and little more pensive than us, but deep down, not so different at all. These are the individuals who Ruskin Bond brings to the table, for a midnight snack, inFace In The Dark And Other Hauntings: Collected Stories of the Supernatural. This collection brings together all of Ruskin Bond's tales of the paranormal written over five decades. As he says in the introduction, "you don't have to believe in ghosts in order to enjoy a ghost story. And while a good ghost story may not turn you into a believer in the supernatural, it can make you ponder upon the mysteries of human existence, and raise the possibility of another layer of life outside..." Not that he believes in them either. But he can't help but see them all the time - in the woods, in a bar, even in a crowd outside a cinema. They don't scare him though. "For ghosts," he says, "are not intent on frightening us. Most visitors from the other side are melancholy spirits looking for a lost love or a

lost home. They are unquiet, unhappy souls, haunting the places they once knew." And he should know. He has met more than his fair share of them. And from the way he writes about them with such empathy, even affection, you would think he is one of them too. His apparition is reported to have asked the bartender at the Writer's Bar, Savoy Hotel Mussoorie, whether he serves spirits. And apparently, the bartender complied. In short, this collection is as familiar as you would get with the paranormal world. The twenty eight stories are more often heartwarming than heartstoppingly scary and sometimes even hilarious, because, according to Mr. Bond, the supernatural has its funny side too. It opens with perhaps his best-known story, ' A Face in the Dark'. In a pine forest in the outskirts of Simla, Mr. Oliver, a lonely teacher, realises that absence of the natural can be more frightening than the presence of the unnatural. In 'The Monkeys', retribution doesn't stop in death. In'The Haunted Bicycle', perhaps the scariest of the collection, children shed their sweet selves and become something else altogether. 'The Vision' leaves dews in our eyes and a lump in our throats, hardly something you'd expect from a ghost story. 'Topaz' is a bitter-sweet tale of love and loss. 'The Black Cat', 'The Trouble with Jinns', 'Ganpat's Story', 'The Haunted Bungalow' and 'The Family Ghost' are the paranormal stories with all the whimsy and laughter you were promised by the author in the introduction. 'Whispering in the Dark' and 'On Fairy Hill' put a rare drop of physical longing in the usual mix of melancholy and darkness and make them wholesome treats. 'Would Astley Return' again makes us think how alike ghosts and human are. After all, they have been humans not very long ago. A book of merely hundred and ninety seven

pages, it's perfect for a muggy evening which turns into midnight before you even know it. And while you finally go to sleep, you will surely have no nightmares. We can't think of any other collection of paranormal which can claim that.