"Delhi Is Not Far as an instance of Popular Literature

Introduction

Ruskin Bond (born 19 May 1934) is an Indian author of British descent. He lives with his adopted
family in Landour, Mussoorie, India. Ruskin Bond is a well- known Indian short-story
writer in English, who wrote in the light of his own experiences and the impressions
he found about things and people he came across are reflected in his works. He is
sober by temperament and is polite and a highly adjustable personality. He takes up
serious themes for his stories but they are not dull, because he makes them
interesting to attract the common reader. Ruskin Bond's stories are an outcome of
his, own experiences and therefore he represents his age. His early stories are based
on his boyhood experiences like the "Room on the Roof. His stories of the middle
period reflect his wide experience of life related to the middle- class people. He also
discusses social problems and offers solutions related to them. His later stories are
more mature and perfect. He adorns his stories With Symbols and Images borrowed
from The World of Nature.

He worked for a few years freelancing from Delhi and Dehradun. He sustained
himself financially by writing short stories and poems for newspapers and magazines.
On his youth, he said, "Sometimes I got lucky and some [work] got selected and I
earned a few hundred rupees. Since I was in my 20s and didn’t have any
responsibilities I was just happy to be doing what I loved doing best." In 1963, he
went to live in Mussoorie because besides liking the place, it was close to the editors
and publishers in Delhi. He edited a magazine for four years. In the 1980s, Penguin
set up in India and approached him to write some books. He had written Vagrants in
the Valley in 1956, 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 supernatural fiction led him to write popular titles such as Ghost
Stories from the Raj, A Season of Ghosts, and A Face in the Dark and other
Hauntings. Since then he has written over five hundred short stories, essays and
novels, including The Blue Umbrella, Funny Side Up, A Flight of Pigeons and more
than 50 books for children. He has also published his autobiography: Scenes from a
Writer's Life describes his formative years growing up in Anglo-India and a further
autobiography, Lone Fox Dancing, was published in 2017. The Lamp is Lit is a
collection of essays and episodes from his journal.

Since 1963 he has lived as a freelance writer in Mussoorie, a town in the Himalayan
foothills in Uttarakhand where he lives with his adoptive family in Landour,
Mussoorie's Ivy Cottage, which has been his home since 1980. Asked what he likes
the most about his life, he said, "That I have been able to write for so long. I started
at the age of 17 or 18 and I am still writing. If I were not a professional writer who
was getting published I would still write." In his essay, "On being an Indian", he
explains his Indian identity, "Race did not make me one. Religion did not make me
one. But history did. And in the long run, it's history that counts."

What is Popular Literature?

“Popular literature” is, by definition, that which is accessible to a broad cross section of the
population. Popular literature includes those writings intended for the masses and those that find
favour with large audiences. It can be distinguished from artistic literature in that it is designed
primarily to entertain. Popular literature, unlike high literature, generally does not seek a high
degree of formal beauty or subtlety and is not intended to endure. The growth of popular literature
has paralleled the spread of literacy through education and has been facilated by technological
developments in printing. With the Industrial Revolution, works of literature, which were
previously produced for consumption by small, well-educated elites, became accessible to large
sections and even majorities of the members of a population.

The boundary between artistic and popular literature is murky, with much traffic between
the two categories according to current public preference and later critical evaluation.
While he was alive William Shakespeare could be thought of as a writer of popular
literature, but he is now regarded as a creator of artistic literature. Indeed, the main,
though not invariable, method of defining a work as belonging to popular literature is
whether it is ephemeral, that is, losing its appeal and significance with the passage of
time.

The most important genre in popular literature is and always has been the romance,
extending as it does from the Middle Ages to the present. The most common type of
romance describes the obstacles encountered by two people (usually young) engaged in
a forbidden love. Another common genre is that of fantasy, or science fiction. Novels set
in the Western frontier of the United States in the 19th century, and called westerns, are
also popular. Finally, the detective story or murder mystery is a widely read form of
popular literature. Popular literature has also come to include such genres as comic
books and cartoon strips.

Writing Pattern Of Ruskin Bond :

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
Dehradun, in his small rented room on the roof, and his friends. His earlier works were
written without it being meant for any particular readership. His first children's book,
Angry River, published in the 1970s, had its writing toned down on a publisher's request
for a children's story. On writing for children, he said, "I had a pretty lonely childhood and
it helps me to understand a child better." Bond's work reflects his Anglo-Indian
experiences and the changing political, social and cultural aspects of India, having been
through colonial, postcolonial and post-independence phases of India.

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".

Being a writer for over 50 years, Bond experimented with different genres; early works
include fiction, short stories, novella with some being autobiographical. Later, he tried
out non-fiction, romance and books for children. He said his favourite genres are essays
and short stories. He considers himself a "visual writer" because for short stories, he first
imagines it like a film and then notes it down. For an essay or travelogue, such planning is
not needed for him. He feels the unexpected there makes it more exciting.

"Delhi Is Not Far" as a piece of literature analysis:

The story of Delhi is Not Far by Ruskin Bond revolves around two men who share a bond
of uncompromising friendship and companionship in the small town of Pipalnagar,
Northern India. The story comprises few phases of life of Arun and his friend Suraj
through a vivid description of their journey from Pipalnagar to Delhi:

 Arun and His friends

The protagonist, Arun, is an Urdu writer who earns a living through his unrefined
crime novels in the language. Unable to earn enough through his penmanship he tries
various jobs in Pipalnagar even vegetable vendor, pickpocketing etc.

Arun dreams about writing a blockbuster that will catapult him to stardom. He
co-habits his twelve feet by seven feet space with Suraj, a homeless orphan (he lost his
parents during the chaos of 1947 partition), and Kamala, the young prostitute who is
married to a man double her age.

Suraj and Arun, they both are vying for the affections of Kamala even though they
are thick as thieves. All three of them have developed bonds of love and care. Suraj
suffers from epilepsy and gets bouts of fits. His health often keeps Arun worried.

 A Dull Town with Dreams of Grandeur

 In the lazy and unspectacular town of Pipalnagar, the inhabitants live mundane lives
weaving dreams of reaching the zenith of success in the nearby city of Delhi. Delhi is the
alluring temptress of their innocent dreams. But the dreams are small and quaint.

Among the cast of people is Deep Chand, a barber who dreams about owning a
high-end salon; Pitamber, a young wrestler, pedals cycle-rickshaw wants to trade up to
scooter-rickshaw; Aziz wants to open a junk-shop in Chandni Chowk etc.

None, unfortunately, will reach the promised land of their dreams. There is also a
beautiful dichotomy is characters like Seth Govind Ram (who owns a bank has a
concubine along with his wife) and runs the brothel where Kamla works.

Then there is Ganpat Ram a beggar with airs of the aristocracy as he lavishly speaks
in immaculate English. His believes that he was possessed by a spirit which led to his
bent back and subsequent misery.

 An Earthquake & a Trip

One day Pipalnagar is hit by an earthquake. People rush out of their house and flood
the streets. There are astrological predictions of the world coming to its end but Arun and
Suraj are not perturbed. They go out for their usual night strolls to the distant fields and
old brick kilns.

When they return to their place, the place is back to its drowsy normalcy and all the
commotion has subdued. Soon, the two decides to make a journey to the hills. Suraj has
never seen the hills but Arun remembers them from a trip he took as a child.

Both of them are puzzled by the wealthy tourists who colonize the hill station in the
summer and mesmerized by the natural beauty of the mountains, pine trees and cool
streams of sweet water.

 A Trip to Delhi
Finally, Arun travels to Delhi. He borrows a shirt from Kamala as he has to appear for
an interview as the Urdu editor. He tells his interviewer that he has come to Delhi to
research on his book titled,’ Delhi is not far’. He gets the job with a monthly salary of Rs
300.

He visits places like Chandani Chowk, Connaught Place etc and is left speechless
by the coming together of old traditions and modern ways of people, architecture and life
in the capital.

He feels people should either live in villages where there is intimacy or cities where
there is complete anonymity. In towns like Pipalnagar, everybody knows you but no one
loves you.
 The Final Goodbyes
Arun and Suraj decide to leave as Suraj finally passes his matriculation exams. Arun
visits Kamala’s village to persuade her to leave with him. Sadly, Kamala declines the offer
saying that she is still married and cannot leave her family.

She asks Arun to come and meet her whenever he wants and is happy to have
helped Arun during his time in Pipalnagar. She also tells Arun that Suraj is the true love of
his life, not her. Arun and Suraj say their goodbyes to their friends in Pipalnagar and pack
up their tin boxes to start their new voyage in the capital.

Conclusion
The title, Delhi is Not Far is an ode to their hopeful dreams about the fabled journey to
Delhi, the city of glorious destinies. It sketches a dynamic scene of small-town India with
its simple-minded people. It also represents a romantic picture of life in rural India.

The story is about a love affair in which there are no losers. It sublimely touches deeper
layers of one’s psyche and how the existing conditions workaround that. It scrutinizes
the profound depth of human relationships beyond blood and lineage.

With these properties and simplicity of usage of words as well as simple literary term all
through the novel, it is evident that its easy and acceptable for all type of common
readers. In this aspect we can say that as a novel "Delhi Is Not Far"in true aspect
comprises all the qualities of being an instance of popular literature.