RUSTY AND THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN
Author: Ruskin Bond
Publisher: Puffin Books
Pages: 122
Price: Rs 299
Perhaps the last time I read a Rusty story was 15 years ago and a lot has changed since then. Technology has taken over our lives, completely changing the way we interact with fellow human beings. I was curious to find out how it changed Rusty, too. Not at all, I discovered to my surprise and amusement.
Rusty's world is wonderfully devoid of tablets, computers and mobile phones, which I think is remarkable, considering that even the youngest of children cannot eat their meals without a mobile phone to play with. My cousin's daughter is better at taking selfies than her mother is. Rusty, on the other hand, thinks Rs 200 is "a lot".
In typical Bond style, the plot is simple, infused with tropes of "man versus nature" and the supernatural. The magic mountain is fabled for its haunted status, a place where not a soul lives. Rusty decides to trek up to the mountain to find out what the fuss is about, but his mother insists he take someone along. In come Popat, the resourceful son of a local businessman, and Pitamber, a wrestler who is perpetually hungry. Together they overcome maneating tigers, bloodsucking cats and a witch who loves crows.
While Bond said in an interview before the book came out that there are almost no autobiographical elements in this story, the world Rusty inhabits seems strikingly similar to the one his creator does. The reclusive mountain man creates Rusty through the prism of his own life, even when he tries not to.
The story is short and I breeze through the 120-odd pages. It's perhaps the easiest way to take a trip to the hills, with someone who knows the precious and precarious ecology like the back of his hands. The one striking marker of changing times in this Wordsworthian narrative is perhaps the repeated mention of earthquakes and what appears to be a subtle reference to the devastating floods in Uttarakhand in 2013. The other is of an uncle suffering from cancer.
While a young Rusty was more entertaining, the older Rusty seems to have an understated wisdom in his story, one that calls for respecting nature and its glorious fury. And while Rusty is a great way to let children learn something other than SMS lingo, he has plenty for adults chained to their desks and dreaming of the simpler joys of life.
Author: Ruskin Bond
Publisher: Puffin Books
Pages: 122
Price: Rs 299
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Every time I am stressed, I close my eyes and take a mental trip to the verdant hills of Uttarakhand. Reading Ruskin Bond's latest Rusty story, Rusty and the Magic Mountain, allowed me to do that with open eyes. With his simple yet delightful writing style, especially his incredible ability to create the visual, Bond brings Rusty back to life, this time with Popat and Pitamber in tow.
Perhaps the last time I read a Rusty story was 15 years ago and a lot has changed since then. Technology has taken over our lives, completely changing the way we interact with fellow human beings. I was curious to find out how it changed Rusty, too. Not at all, I discovered to my surprise and amusement.
Rusty's world is wonderfully devoid of tablets, computers and mobile phones, which I think is remarkable, considering that even the youngest of children cannot eat their meals without a mobile phone to play with. My cousin's daughter is better at taking selfies than her mother is. Rusty, on the other hand, thinks Rs 200 is "a lot".
In typical Bond style, the plot is simple, infused with tropes of "man versus nature" and the supernatural. The magic mountain is fabled for its haunted status, a place where not a soul lives. Rusty decides to trek up to the mountain to find out what the fuss is about, but his mother insists he take someone along. In come Popat, the resourceful son of a local businessman, and Pitamber, a wrestler who is perpetually hungry. Together they overcome maneating tigers, bloodsucking cats and a witch who loves crows.
While Bond said in an interview before the book came out that there are almost no autobiographical elements in this story, the world Rusty inhabits seems strikingly similar to the one his creator does. The reclusive mountain man creates Rusty through the prism of his own life, even when he tries not to.
The story is short and I breeze through the 120-odd pages. It's perhaps the easiest way to take a trip to the hills, with someone who knows the precious and precarious ecology like the back of his hands. The one striking marker of changing times in this Wordsworthian narrative is perhaps the repeated mention of earthquakes and what appears to be a subtle reference to the devastating floods in Uttarakhand in 2013. The other is of an uncle suffering from cancer.
While a young Rusty was more entertaining, the older Rusty seems to have an understated wisdom in his story, one that calls for respecting nature and its glorious fury. And while Rusty is a great way to let children learn something other than SMS lingo, he has plenty for adults chained to their desks and dreaming of the simpler joys of life.