Falling in love again by Ruskin Bond

 


Title of the book is apt "Falling in Love Again", Ruskin Bond reminisces all the episodes of love in his life with a current-mature-mindset. Presumably, he wrote this one to heal himself through all his numerous life-episodes of unrequited love!


Touching the delightful cover, with swarming colorful butterflies hovering all over, my search for Ruskin Bond's definition of love started. This evenly-paced book is all about love forbidden, so I couldn't take it as a tongue-in-cheek writing ! It is flooded with insidious emotions. 


Again I presume, one cannot count Ruskin's financial strain as the only cause for him not taking the plunge into marriage, but the ache of unrequited love !


The introduction includes Ruskin Bond's favorite writer PG Wodehouse's quote - "You know, the way love can change a fellow, is truly frightful to contemplate". 

I agree, guess we all have undergone aggressive transformations in some way or the other.

This book is about loving people, flowers, sun, moon, stars, old roads, it is about falling in love with everything, as where love begins, there is the border of heaven !

Falling in love is the best that can happen to any writer, as it adds a certain spontaneity and intensity to the writings. And when the love is unrequited, it makes it filled with insidious sweetness, as I felt throughout in this book. 

Kudos to Ruskin Bond to live his entire life in the pain of losing love. I could see the glint in his eyes, every time he saw a ray of hope to manifest love in the various episodes described.

In one of the scenes, he mentions, he may stop loving the girl but he cannot stop being in love with the days in which he loved her! Ufffff!

The book begins with Ruskin's train journey to Rohana, where he meets a girl with a voice that had a sparkle and freshness of a mountain stream.

Followed with the night train at Deoli, where the 18-year old Ruskin's eyes meet the eloquent eyes of a young basket seller. This story literally tore my heart apart.

Next in line was the Vietnamese friend with colossal ego who had introduced Ruskin to a pretty Annamite girl.

The next in the pipeline was the dark slender 16-year Sushila, but Ruskin is 30. He has been rebuked pretty much for this story. But I would like to appreciate Ruskin for his audacity and honesty to share his feelings of love which go beyond age, caste and creed. He writes unabashedly about love. Period!

Love that is fervent, love that is mature, love that is timid, love that is joyful, love for a friend, nature, and a dog.

The descriptions were so vivid, that I was forced to close my eyes and see what he saw. I had teary eyes, smile on my lips, dimple on my cheeks, yes, each and every page had aroused an emotion deeply felt, lived to the core!

He didn't make it smut, didn't let it go discordant, but burgeoned the cuteness of love throughout.

Another one was time stops at Shamli, which infused a pain so sweet that ruptured my heart into bits and pieces. Reminiscing the old memories, and ripening of love into unattainability and maturity. I had goosebumps!

Ruskin Bond's characteristically pithy writing is his benchmark. He lucidly and vividly described the atmosphere in the hills, mountains, dales and the chaotic setting at railway stations.

Next was the "the girl from Copenhagen" - not a love story but a story about love. A story of love as short as 2 days. I count it as the modern-day no-strings attached love story.

Next was Binya passes by, then Neighbor's wife about a married female standing on the precipice of change, followed with Sussana's seven husbands which I found relatively slow and drab than the other stories.

"Without the torch of love

There is no life, and we must all fade away"

My favorite among all was "on fairy hill", for obvious reasons for my obsession for magical realism.

"All things beautiful are easily destroyed"

"Come, fairies, carry me away, to experience again the perfection I did that summer's day!"

Once I picked up the book, I couldn't keep it down till I finished it.

Throughout, I saw what he saw, I breathed in what he lived through, , my heart was thudding, yammering, thumping the way it did for him! 

A 4.5 stars for this one!

Word of caution - All emotional fools like me, get a tissue box handy before picking up this marvel!


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