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The Great Train Journey
‘The first time I saw a train, I was standing on a wooded slope outside a tunnel, not far from Kalka. Suddenly, with a shrill whistle and great burst of steam, a green and black engine came snorting out of the blackness... “A dragon!” I shouted. “There’s a dragon coming out of its cave!”’ The charm of travelling by a train as it speeds its way out of a tunnel or a jungle and passes through nondescript villages and towns is unmatched. There also exists a joyful curiosity in unfolding the mysterious lives and destinations of its passengers. Ruskin Bond has been writing tales about the hinterland for decades, but this is the first time his stories revolving around trains and railway stations of small-town India have been brought together in a single collection. Classics such as ‘The Eyes Have It’ and ‘The Night Train at Deoli’ rub shoulders with tales of big cats taking refuge in railway tunnels and strangers who strike up a friendship while waiting at a platform. So, hop on and allow one of India’s greatest storytellers to steer you through The Great Train Journey!
128 pages, Paperback
Published August 1, 2018
1253 people are currently reading
823 people want to read
About the author
Ruskin Bond
680 books3,563 followersRuskin Bond is an Indian author of British descent. He is considered to be an icon among Indian writers and children's authors and a top novelist. He wrote his first novel, The Room on the Roof, when he was seventeen which won John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize in 1957. Since then he has written several novellas, over 500 short stories, as well as various essays and poems, all of which have established him as one of the best-loved and most admired chroniclers of contemporary India. In 1992 he received the Sahitya Akademi award for English writing, for his short stories collection, "Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra", by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters in India. 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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 171 reviews
December 21, 2025
I’ve been looking for a Ruskin Bond book and finally came up with this one. As I like vintage trains and Indian subjects this seemed right. It’s nicely written. Classified as children’s literature but certainly ok for adults. I feel a suggestion of O. Henry here. Very pleasant.
May 19, 2021
A collection of thoroughly enjoyable ordinary short stories, with some repetition. Has lots of trains and leopards. The book is set in colonial and newly independent India. I had an immersive experience reading this, on a day with long powercuts, in a pool of sweat. You could say I was remembering old India.
October 18, 2020
Mr. Bond has put together his fourteen stories that revolve around trains. And he says,
"... I leave you to read these, with the promise that they will take you back to a time when life was not so full of care and there was time to stand and stare."
And it certainly does take you on a carefree journey on the dragon that is a symbol of romance. This collection has some most-loved stories that have made home in the hearts of readers and have turned them into fans of the author. There is my most favourite, 'The Woman on Platform No.8'. And there is the beautiful story of unsaid love 'The Eyes Have It'. 'The Night Train in Deoli' is the one that keeps life moving with the memories of lost love. 'Dragon in the Tunnel' and 'Tiger in the Tunnel' best describe the grandeur of 'trains'. Not only the trains and stations, the book brings forth the mysterious lives of the passengers in one of the most loved long story 'Time Stops at Shamli'. This book is charming, mysterious, hilarious and a treasure to keep.
"... I leave you to read these, with the promise that they will take you back to a time when life was not so full of care and there was time to stand and stare."
And it certainly does take you on a carefree journey on the dragon that is a symbol of romance. This collection has some most-loved stories that have made home in the hearts of readers and have turned them into fans of the author. There is my most favourite, 'The Woman on Platform No.8'. And there is the beautiful story of unsaid love 'The Eyes Have It'. 'The Night Train in Deoli' is the one that keeps life moving with the memories of lost love. 'Dragon in the Tunnel' and 'Tiger in the Tunnel' best describe the grandeur of 'trains'. Not only the trains and stations, the book brings forth the mysterious lives of the passengers in one of the most loved long story 'Time Stops at Shamli'. This book is charming, mysterious, hilarious and a treasure to keep.
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March 22, 2025 "‘A dragon!’ I had shouted. ‘There’s a dragon coming out of its cave!’."
A collection of short stories centred around the nostalgia of train rides, tunnels, watchmen and leopards. The beauty of mountains, jungles, babbling brooks and stretching of trees as the dusk approaches pushed me to sit and imagine what it must be like. I really need to travel.
My favourites were "Time stops at Shamli" and "The tiger in the tunnel".
"A woman, I reasoned, would do anything for love provided it was not at the price of security; for a woman loves security as much as a man loves independence."
A collection of short stories centred around the nostalgia of train rides, tunnels, watchmen and leopards. The beauty of mountains, jungles, babbling brooks and stretching of trees as the dusk approaches pushed me to sit and imagine what it must be like. I really need to travel.
My favourites were "Time stops at Shamli" and "The tiger in the tunnel".
"A woman, I reasoned, would do anything for love provided it was not at the price of security; for a woman loves security as much as a man loves independence."
April 27, 2021
Safar manzil se bhi khoobsurat h
Who doesn't like trains ? Ehh !! I guess you all must have felt a rush of thunderous applause of shreik splashing across you from the roaring engines of mighty trains poundering on the muddy rail lines in the morning dew.
Ruskin's Bond A great train journey is a compilation of short stories of some of his travel experiences in the trains (green dragons spitting fire... probably that's how he saw them) across the hillsides and valleys in the summertime, his long walks in the tunnel in the jungles and encounter with friendly leopards, travel experiences with fellow passengers, professional visit to Bombay, his playful joyrides with his grandfather and python etc. Others stories in the book include some of his fictional work like the trainwreck experiences of villagers, a boys visit to a tunnel to see the night inward mail train , a teenagers new budding love interest that he meets at a changeover small station in Deoli , and ofcourse the classics 'The eyes have it and Time stops at shamli'.
No one observed nature like Ruskin Bond. The way he has weaved the small details of our everyday life into stories is such a delightful read. The slopes of Dehra and Simla vibrant with Dahlias, field and villages as viewed from the train windows, train tunnels in the shrubs lit with light lamps by Khalisi, single platformed stations, everything he has described in such wonderous simplicity and awe that we can't resist to pack our bags and travel again to the country to experience it all over again.
We fail to experience such beautiful moments even when they are right front of us. He tells us to stand and stare at the gift of nature and taste it's mysteries.
Surely this book will make you savor the moments more and experience your next travel by a train in a hell lot different way.
Who doesn't like trains ? Ehh !! I guess you all must have felt a rush of thunderous applause of shreik splashing across you from the roaring engines of mighty trains poundering on the muddy rail lines in the morning dew.
Ruskin's Bond A great train journey is a compilation of short stories of some of his travel experiences in the trains (green dragons spitting fire... probably that's how he saw them) across the hillsides and valleys in the summertime, his long walks in the tunnel in the jungles and encounter with friendly leopards, travel experiences with fellow passengers, professional visit to Bombay, his playful joyrides with his grandfather and python etc. Others stories in the book include some of his fictional work like the trainwreck experiences of villagers, a boys visit to a tunnel to see the night inward mail train , a teenagers new budding love interest that he meets at a changeover small station in Deoli , and ofcourse the classics 'The eyes have it and Time stops at shamli'.
No one observed nature like Ruskin Bond. The way he has weaved the small details of our everyday life into stories is such a delightful read. The slopes of Dehra and Simla vibrant with Dahlias, field and villages as viewed from the train windows, train tunnels in the shrubs lit with light lamps by Khalisi, single platformed stations, everything he has described in such wonderous simplicity and awe that we can't resist to pack our bags and travel again to the country to experience it all over again.
We fail to experience such beautiful moments even when they are right front of us. He tells us to stand and stare at the gift of nature and taste it's mysteries.
Surely this book will make you savor the moments more and experience your next travel by a train in a hell lot different way.
May 18, 2021
Even though the title implies the stories are related to trains, in some of the stories I didn't feel there was connection between the train and the story.
I enjoyed reading few stories but majority of them are 'okay-ish' kind.
I also felt that the theme and some scenes were highly repeated like:
1. Boy going to a tunnel ....lighting a lamp at the end of tunnel...tiger/leopard attacking them.
2. A remote station where no one is there but he want to know what is present beyond the station.
Overall If you are a Ruskin bond fan, you can try this book once.
I enjoyed reading few stories but majority of them are 'okay-ish' kind.
I also felt that the theme and some scenes were highly repeated like:
1. Boy going to a tunnel ....lighting a lamp at the end of tunnel...tiger/leopard attacking them.
2. A remote station where no one is there but he want to know what is present beyond the station.
Overall If you are a Ruskin bond fan, you can try this book once.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 8, 2021
Good collection of short stories related to train and train journeys. I think I have read enough books written by Ruskin Bond that I often found stories I have already read. Nevermind, I skip those and read the rest.
February 10, 2025
"I know this leopard well. We have seen each other many times. He has a weakness for stray dogs and goats, but he will not harm us".
This excerpt is repeated verbatim in three stories in this anthology. The protagonist, (once an unnamed boy, once Suraj, and the third time a callow youth,) visits a railway tunnel, and along with the khilasi, the railway signal man, he discovers a leopard in the tunnel. How the two of them manage to rescue the leopard from the approaching train, and yada-yada forms the rest of the tale. Generally, the stories end with an eulogy for the signal man, who is described without variance as a firefly.
I wonder if anyone proofread this. If they did, what were they smoking?
It's distressing to note how to make a few more bucks on a popular author even respectable publishers are willing to cheat the unsuspecting buyer. It does make one think twice before buying a book.
This excerpt is repeated verbatim in three stories in this anthology. The protagonist, (once an unnamed boy, once Suraj, and the third time a callow youth,) visits a railway tunnel, and along with the khilasi, the railway signal man, he discovers a leopard in the tunnel. How the two of them manage to rescue the leopard from the approaching train, and yada-yada forms the rest of the tale. Generally, the stories end with an eulogy for the signal man, who is described without variance as a firefly.
I wonder if anyone proofread this. If they did, what were they smoking?
It's distressing to note how to make a few more bucks on a popular author even respectable publishers are willing to cheat the unsuspecting buyer. It does make one think twice before buying a book.
August 26, 2021
Absolute Wonder
The book contains wonderful depiction of the stories of his life.
The way Ruskin Bond writes will sure make me read a few more of his book.
The book contains wonderful depiction of the stories of his life.
The way Ruskin Bond writes will sure make me read a few more of his book.
December 19, 2023
Simple and enjoyable storytelling from Mr. Bond
May 3, 2021
A remarkable read by Ruskin Bond.
I picked up this book because I like trains and since I was coming off a heavy non fiction read, needed something light.
This short book or novella contained 12 short stories by Ruskin Bond. He writes around his adventures in trains, railway stations, tunnels and mysterious travellers across India through the course of his life.
Beautiful storytelling and smooth descriptions of people, places and trains through the years. The one I loved the most was 'The night train at Deoli'. The next story however, was even better; I would recommend any person or individual to read this book because it had a special moment of Ruskin Bond in that story and in what later followed.
These are individual stories and are completely different, but all are around the beautiful train.
Read this short novella if you wish to read something light and fun too!
I picked up this book because I like trains and since I was coming off a heavy non fiction read, needed something light.
This short book or novella contained 12 short stories by Ruskin Bond. He writes around his adventures in trains, railway stations, tunnels and mysterious travellers across India through the course of his life.
Beautiful storytelling and smooth descriptions of people, places and trains through the years. The one I loved the most was 'The night train at Deoli'. The next story however, was even better; I would recommend any person or individual to read this book because it had a special moment of Ruskin Bond in that story and in what later followed.
These are individual stories and are completely different, but all are around the beautiful train.
Read this short novella if you wish to read something light and fun too!
January 11, 2023
Nice compilation of stories around train rides
Ruskin Bond's fascination for trains is well compiled in this collection, while Sone stories are repeated from other books, there is an eternal beauty in them, we don't mind reading them again.
Ruskin Bond's fascination for trains is well compiled in this collection, while Sone stories are repeated from other books, there is an eternal beauty in them, we don't mind reading them again.
February 5, 2025
This was a book I read after a short break and I particularly chose this one since its from my favorite author. A collection of short stories all involving a train journey or connected to a train in one or another. Encounters with some of the stories, as always were my second time.
There is something with Mr. Bond's writings that never fail to captivate me. In this book as well there were a number of stories (situations) to which I could totally relate to from my childhood and even from current period. For ex : the way the protagonist gets confused on how the train has made a U turn without him noticing was similar to the one I had during my journey to Delhi many years back. "He couldn't understand, the train hadn't turned of that he was certain, and it hadn't been moving backwards. He climbed out of the compartment and looked up and down the platform. Yes the engine had changed ends!". Another instance which I could relate to was the story about Daya Ram- a foolish simple person who trusted everyone around and finds it hurtful to realize the people he seemed to like so much has cheated him.
Overall a superb read with the combination of comedy, love, heartbreaks, tragedies, simpleness of childhood and beauty of the mountains. My favorite among the lot would be:
Time Stops at Shamli - A true romantic story which reaffirmed my fan ship on the author.
Kiplings Shimla - The best story is the last entry. I have always wondered whether its the Himalayas that I love more or Mr Bond's writing about the Himalayas. This story even includes excerpts from Rudyard Kipling's words on Shimla which makes it doubly beautiful.
All the stories and characters though may feel made up have a certain life and truth to it as if every incident and every person bears a little of the creator himself which is what makes those words special.
Definitely a recommended read for anyone trying to have a good time with a book.
Concluding the review quoting the "gems" I collected along :
- "In those days I never had the patience to wait for second thoughts and so I began pulling my small suitcase."
There is something with Mr. Bond's writings that never fail to captivate me. In this book as well there were a number of stories (situations) to which I could totally relate to from my childhood and even from current period. For ex : the way the protagonist gets confused on how the train has made a U turn without him noticing was similar to the one I had during my journey to Delhi many years back. "He couldn't understand, the train hadn't turned of that he was certain, and it hadn't been moving backwards. He climbed out of the compartment and looked up and down the platform. Yes the engine had changed ends!". Another instance which I could relate to was the story about Daya Ram- a foolish simple person who trusted everyone around and finds it hurtful to realize the people he seemed to like so much has cheated him.
Overall a superb read with the combination of comedy, love, heartbreaks, tragedies, simpleness of childhood and beauty of the mountains. My favorite among the lot would be:
Time Stops at Shamli - A true romantic story which reaffirmed my fan ship on the author.
Kiplings Shimla - The best story is the last entry. I have always wondered whether its the Himalayas that I love more or Mr Bond's writing about the Himalayas. This story even includes excerpts from Rudyard Kipling's words on Shimla which makes it doubly beautiful.
All the stories and characters though may feel made up have a certain life and truth to it as if every incident and every person bears a little of the creator himself which is what makes those words special.
Definitely a recommended read for anyone trying to have a good time with a book.
Concluding the review quoting the "gems" I collected along :
- "In those days I never had the patience to wait for second thoughts and so I began pulling my small suitcase."
May 22, 2021
Ruskin Bond writes stories that are more or less look like a snippet from our everyday life. This one is no different! It’s simple, relatable, and fills your heart with warmth!
I don’t really prefer reading short story collections, however, Mr. Bond’s book has its own charm and I couldn’t sit without reading this one. Especially since it’s weaved around trains! Oh yeah, I totally have a soft-corner (or is it a weakness?) for trains.
Most of the stories are set in the forgotten era of simpler times (I guess, 1960’s?). Steam Engines, the lonely stations, tonga and what not. If you haven’t lived in that era like me, you will definitely feel transported back in time and breathe through those unfiltered days! That’s how beautifully the author, Ruskin Bond writes. This book pretty much is meant for readers of all ages. There is one or the other chapter that anyone can definitely connect with!
My favorite one - "Time Stops At Shamli" short story.
P.S: Some of the stories are repeated and if am not wrong, a chapter from this book features Mr. Bond’s other book called “The night in Deoli”.
Descriptions and scenarios are a little repetitive in some chapters – which is the only thing that I didn’t like. Apart from that, everything about this book is the best!
All in all, if you love Ruskin Bond’s stories, or adore short stories that depict the ordinary life and set in a bygone era and yet feel relatable – then this book is for you!
I don’t really prefer reading short story collections, however, Mr. Bond’s book has its own charm and I couldn’t sit without reading this one. Especially since it’s weaved around trains! Oh yeah, I totally have a soft-corner (or is it a weakness?) for trains.
Most of the stories are set in the forgotten era of simpler times (I guess, 1960’s?). Steam Engines, the lonely stations, tonga and what not. If you haven’t lived in that era like me, you will definitely feel transported back in time and breathe through those unfiltered days! That’s how beautifully the author, Ruskin Bond writes. This book pretty much is meant for readers of all ages. There is one or the other chapter that anyone can definitely connect with!
My favorite one - "Time Stops At Shamli" short story.
P.S: Some of the stories are repeated and if am not wrong, a chapter from this book features Mr. Bond’s other book called “The night in Deoli”.
Descriptions and scenarios are a little repetitive in some chapters – which is the only thing that I didn’t like. Apart from that, everything about this book is the best!
All in all, if you love Ruskin Bond’s stories, or adore short stories that depict the ordinary life and set in a bygone era and yet feel relatable – then this book is for you!
December 24, 2021
Ruskin Bond just needs no introduction at all. Everyone is familiar with his name associated with children's literature in India. This particular anthology of short stories is just too good for anyone to just pick up and read. This read will be memorable to me for another reason - I read it at 2.30 AM in the beautiful Bhopal Station when it was almost empty. The chilled weather and Bond's descriptions of trains with a cup of tea is a treat to experience.
"A dragon coming out of the cave" is the expression Bond uses often in this collection of short stories. All the stories revolve around trains and railway stations. He also writes stories revolving around Big cats near railway stations too. The classics like "The Eyes have it" and "The Night Train at Deoli" are criticality acclaimed by many critics. My favourite story in this anthology is "Time Stops at Shamli" where I fully experienced the brilliance of Bond's prose. Along with beautiful descriptions and stories, Bond uses humour a lot in his stories which will surely make you laugh.
I myself love travelling in trains and was waiting for my train when I was reading it. The chilly midnight air and hot tea in the station enhanced my experience while reading this book. I felt very nostalgic when I was reading this book. I would suggest everyone to read this particular book. I am sure it will increase your love for trains and experience a freshness in yourself while reading Ruskin Bond's prose.
"A dragon coming out of the cave" is the expression Bond uses often in this collection of short stories. All the stories revolve around trains and railway stations. He also writes stories revolving around Big cats near railway stations too. The classics like "The Eyes have it" and "The Night Train at Deoli" are criticality acclaimed by many critics. My favourite story in this anthology is "Time Stops at Shamli" where I fully experienced the brilliance of Bond's prose. Along with beautiful descriptions and stories, Bond uses humour a lot in his stories which will surely make you laugh.
I myself love travelling in trains and was waiting for my train when I was reading it. The chilly midnight air and hot tea in the station enhanced my experience while reading this book. I felt very nostalgic when I was reading this book. I would suggest everyone to read this particular book. I am sure it will increase your love for trains and experience a freshness in yourself while reading Ruskin Bond's prose.
August 29, 2021
Absolutely in love with the hills of India thanks to Ruskin Bond. All the stories in this collection are beautifully penned taking the reader down the length and breath of various rail routes and the simple life that people around live and enjoy. The khalisi, the boy waiting for his exam results, suraj walking the tunnel to see the other side, eccentric characters of Shamli and the most profound romance along the rail routes that made someone lay the tracks to reach its love. I am absolutely short of words whenever I read Mr. Bond. His narration is sarcastic, gripping yet simple to fall in love. After reading a few books of Mr. Bond, I too feel like taking a voyage and spending sometime in the mystic hills of India.
April 28, 2024
Collection of short stories with train being one of the main characters in most of the stories.
These train stories revolve around the hills and mostly are from pre-independence or soon after independence time frames.
Few of the content gets repeated in a couple of stories, however that doesn't stop anyone from reading this book.
Probably suits well under kids category, however if you are looking for light hearted and breather kind of reading, this can definitely be one.
Worth a read for one time.
These train stories revolve around the hills and mostly are from pre-independence or soon after independence time frames.
Few of the content gets repeated in a couple of stories, however that doesn't stop anyone from reading this book.
Probably suits well under kids category, however if you are looking for light hearted and breather kind of reading, this can definitely be one.
Worth a read for one time.
June 27, 2021
This is a collection of typical Ruskin Bond stories, easy-going, nostalgic and romantic. With lots of nature and a few natural human beings thrown in. However, if you are not already a Ruskin Bond fan like me, there are better books by him to start. More so, as some of the stories in this collection looks similar, at least the settings look identical. Though for me it isn't much of an issue.
May 4, 2021
I have started liking Ruskin bond. He takes us to lost time to lost terrains. Our generation don't have time to experience such slow, beautiful things. So reading Ruskin bond is kind of break from current fast life.
August 19, 2024
Good one
Read
January 19, 2022As author says, he's fascinated by trains, and here's a collection of stories where a train features in each. Other than that its a very diverse collection, although several stories have some factors common with another or two, apart from the train.
Two stories stand out. Snake Trouble is by far the most hilarious story one ever read, not only by this author but generally - it compares well with best of his childhood favourite authir, P. G. Wodehouse, in fact with best of the latter which I'd say is Pigs Hsve Wings. The other is Time Stops At Shamli, where he attempts romance, mystery, suspense, touch of horror, all with his gentle brush, and an air that reminds one of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. Come to think of it, it also feels like something he lived, but not in India.
More than one story here uses his tunnel and leopard experience.
And finally, there is more than one story where he writes in first person but with an Indian protagonist, rendering the imagined dialogues completely unconvincing- often enough he has very English dialogues by characters unlikemy to have spoken English, much less thought in English; one where an Indian schoolboy's thinking and speech sounds more like a much older adult, not young, Englishman.
"Introduction
‘What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass, Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass…’
"William Henry Davies wrote these lines in 1911, and they ring true even over a century later. ... "
Any quarrel with Robert Frost?
"The first time I saw a train, I was standing on a wooded slope outside a tunnel, not far from Kalka. Suddenly, with a shrill whistle and great burst of steam, a green and black engine came snorting out of the blackness. I had turned and run towards my father. ‘A dragon!’ I had shouted. ‘There’s a dragon coming out of its cave!’"
"The Great Train Journey
"He plunged his hands into the straw and pulled out an apple.
"It was a dark, ruby-red apple, and it lay in the dusty palm of Suraj’s hand like some gigantic precious stone, smooth and round and glowing in the sunlight. Suraj looked up, out of the doorway, and thought he saw a tree walking past the train.
"He dropped the apple and stared.
"There was another tree, and another, all walking past the door with increasing rapidity. Suraj stepped forward but lost his balance and fell on his hands and knees. The floor beneath him was vibrating, the wheels were clattering on the rails, the carriage was swaying. The trees were running now, swooping past the train, and the telegraph poles joined them in the crazy race."
The author takes one gently through a slight panic of a preteen boy who is sure his parents would miss him and worry, but is all too looking forward to going to and across sea - to China, Africa - until the train stops at a station, and he's at his inn hometown, bringing the familiar Gentle smile familiar to readers of Bond.
"The Eyes Have It
For some reason one is reminded of works of Fyodor Dostoevsky, specifically White Nights, as one reads this, beginning shortly after beginning reading this story.
It isn't plot or details, it's an air, a whiff of the atmosphere.
" ... Her voice had the sparkle of a mountain stream. As soon as she left the train she would forget our brief encounter. But it would stay with me for the rest of the journey and for some time after."
But then, the twist brings one back, and again takes one back to White Nights -
"‘I don’t remember,’ he said sounding puzzled. ‘It was her eyes I noticed, not her hair. She had beautiful eyes but they were of no use to her. She was completely blind. Didn’t you notice?’"
"The Dragon In The Tunnel
"The first time I saw a train, I was standing on a wooded slope outside a tunnel, not far from Kalka. Suddenly, with a shrill whistle and great burst of steam, a green and black engine came snorting out of the blackness.
"I turned and run towards my father. ‘A dragon!’ I had shouted. ‘There’s a dragon coming out of its cave!’
"Since then, steam engines and dragons have always inspired the same sort of feelings in me—wonder and awe and delight. I would like to see a real dragon one day, green and gold and—because I have always preferred the ‘reluctant’ sort—rather shy and gentle; but until that day comes, I shall be content with steam engines."
Funny, if he really did want that, why not spend a few weeks at Loch Ness? Reportedly, there haven't been any harms reported to anyone, although some people have been terrified.
He recounts a story familiar from another of his collection.
"We had gone about twenty yards into the tunnel when the light from the lamp fell on the leopard, which was crouching between the tracks, only about twenty feet away from us. It bared its teeth in a snarl and went down on its stomach, tail twisting. I thought it was going to spring. ... "
"Belting Around Mumbai
"I have lived to see Bombay become Mumbai, Calcutta become Kolkata, and Madras become Chennai. Times change, names change, and if Bond becomes Bonda I won’t object. ... "
He's lived in India from his childhood on, and talks to locals. Did he never get a clue? That British had distorted two of the names he's claiming are changed now? That Mumbai, and Kaalieghattaa, were the original names, after the major temples?
The name Madras was changed by politics of Tamil state that was turned poisonous by Macaulay policy of British, and further by policy of Jinnah to break India into pieces, both sowing hatred in Tamil people against Sanskrit and its derivative languages, and people who spoke them. Madra is an ancient name, familiar to India since millennia, from Mahaabhaarata. Krishna from Mathura, a name replicated in Tamil Nadu as Madurai, was married to Satyabhaamaa, daughter of Jaambuvanta, and in Tamil Nadu the most loved of all wives of Krishna, even though she was neither first nor best in character - obviously, it was due to her being from the region. So the connection is as ancient as Raamaayana, where Jaambuvanta is first mentioned. But political parties preferred the British and Pakistan policy of pretending tamilians were disconnected from mainstream India, hence wiping out a name that's connected with Mahaabhaarata, Krishna, all of India since several millennia.
"I auditioned for a role in a Tarzan film.
"‘Who do you wish to play?’ asked the casting director. ‘Tarzan, of course,’ I said.
"He gave me a long hard look. ‘Can you swing from one tree to another?’ he asked.
"‘Easily,’ I said. ‘I can even swing from a chandelier.’ And I proceeded to do so, wrecking the hall they sat in, in the process. They begged me to stop.
"‘Thank you, Mr Bond, you have made your point. But we don’t think you have the figure for the part of Tarzan. Would you like to take the part of the missionary who is being cooked to a crisp by a bunch of cannibals? Tarzan will come to your rescue.’
"I declined the role with dignity."
He describes a book event where "Gulzar read Ghalib, ... " and being taken to a market to spend a thousand which he did on two pairs of ladies slippers and two ladies handbags.
"At the airport, one of the Kingfisher staff complimented me on my dress sense; the first time anyone has done so.
"‘Your blue shirt matches your eyes,’ she said.
"After that, I shall definitely fly Kingfisher again."
That dates the writing more than the publication date!
"Going Home
A story about a simple, good-natured man being taking advantage of by thugs.
"The Long Day
About a boy spending a day out and returning late, only to realise he's to do it again next day.
"Suraj felt a little lonely now. Somehow, the passing of the train left him with a feeling of being alone in a wide, empty world. He was feeling hungry too. He went back to the field where he had seen some lichi trees, climbed into one of them and began plucking and peeling and eating the juicy red-skinned fruit. No one seemed to own the lichi trees ... "
"The Tiger In The Tunnel
Author begins with a memory of his own, turned into a third person story, details changed.
"The station, a small shack backed by heavy jungle, was a station in name only; for trains only stopped there, if at all, for a few seconds before entering the deep cutting that led to the tunnel. Most trains merely slowed down before taking the sharp curve before the cutting.
"Baldeo was responsible for signalling whether or not the tunnel was clear of obstruction, and his hand-worked signal stood before the entrance. At night it was his duty to see that the lamp was burning, and that the overland mail passed through safely."
" ... He did not have to wonder for long. Before a minute had passed he made out the huge body of the tiger trotting steadily towards him. Its eyes shone a brilliant green in the light from the signal lamp. ... "
And ends very differently.
"He sat down in the darkness to wait for the train, and sang softly to himself. There was nothing to be afraid of—his father had killed the tiger, the forest gods were pleased; and besides, he had the axe with him, his father’s axe, and he knew how to use it."
"The Woman on Platform number 8
It's a sweet story, written in first person but not with the author's own identity, but the real trouble is, while the protagonist is an Indian boy, the language and thought process of the story is that of an older person and not an Indian. The mismatch is quite definite and not covered enough to be hidden by the sweetness of the story.
"Snake Trouble
"The first to see us arrive was Tutu the monkey, who was swinging from a branch of the jackfruit tree. One look at the python, ancient enemy of her race, and she fled into the house squealing with fright. Then our parrot, Popeye, who had his perch on the verandah, set up the most awful shrieking and whistling. His whistle was like that of a steam engine. He had learnt to do this in earlier days, when we had lived near railway stations.
"The noise brought Grandmother to the verandah, where she nearly fainted at the sight of the python curled round Grandfather’s neck."
"We hurried off to the bazaar in search of the snake charmer but hadn’t gone far when we found several snake charmers looking for us. They had heard that Grandfather was buying snakes, and they had brought with them snakes of various sizes and descriptions."
"But the man who had sold it to us had, apparently, returned to his village in the jungle, looking for another python for Grandfather; and the other snake charmers were not interested in buying, only in selling. In order to shake them off, we had to return home by a roundabout route, climbing a wall and cutting through an orchard. We found Grandmother pacing up and down the verandah. One look at our faces and she knew we had failed to get rid of the snake."
"‘He’s gone,’ announced Grandfather.
"‘We left the window open,’ I said.
"‘Deliberately, no doubt,’ said Grandmother. ‘But it couldn’t have gone far. You’ll have to search the grounds.’
"A careful search was made of the house, the roof, the kitchen, the garden and the chicken shed, but there was no sign of the python."
"Sure enough, the python began to make brief but frequent appearances, usually up in the most unexpected places.
"One morning I found him curled up on a dressing table, gazing at his own reflection in the mirror. I went for Grandfather, but by the time we returned the python had moved on.
"He was seen again in the garden, and one day I spotted him climbing the iron ladder to the roof. ... "
"The major met me on the steps of his house.
"‘And what has your kind granny sent me today, Ranji?’ he asked.
"‘A surprise for your birthday, sir,’ I said, and put the basket down in front of him. The python, who had been buried beneath all the guavas, chose this moment to wake up and stand straight up to a height of several feet. Guavas tumbled all over the place. The major uttered an oath and dashed indoors.
"I pushed the python back into the basket, picked it up, mounted the bicycle, and rode out of the gate in record time. And it was as well that I did so, because Major Malik came charging out of the house armed with a double-barrelled shotgun, which he was waving all over the place."
"‘Thank you for the lovely surprise,’ he wrote. ‘Obviously you could not have known that my doctor had advised me against any undue excitement. My blood pressure has been rather high. The sight of your grandson does not improve it. All the same, it’s the thought that matters and I take it all in good humour…’
"‘What a strange letter,’ said Grandmother. ‘He must be ill, poor man. Are guavas bad for blood pressure?’
"‘Not by themselves, they aren’t,’ said Grandfather, who had an inkling of what had happened. ‘But together with other things they can be a bit upsetting.’"
" ... Dehra railway platform was thrown into confusion by the shrieks and whistles of our parrot, who could imitate both the guard’s whistle and the whistle of a train. People dashed into their compartments, thinking the train was about to leave, only to realize that the guard hadn’t blown his whistle after all. When they got down, Popeye would let out another shrill whistle, which sent everyone rushing for the train again. This happened several times until the guard actually blew his whistle. Then nobody bothered to get on, and several passengers were left behind."
"Whenever we stopped at a station, Popeye objected to fruit sellers and other people poking their heads in through the windows. Before the journey was over, he had nipped two fingers and a nose, and tweaked a ticket inspector’s ear."
"‘Well, I’m hungry,’ I said. ‘What did Granny make for us?’ ‘Stuffed samosas, omelettes, and tandoori chicken. It’s all in the hamper under the berth.’
"I tugged at the cane box and dragged it into the middle of the compartment. The straps were loosely tied. No sooner had I undone them than the lid flew open, and I let out a gasp of surprise."
"Placing the hamper on the table, she lifted the lid and peered inside. And promptly fainted.
"Grandfather picked up the python, took it into the garden, and draped it over a branch of a pomegranate tree."
"The Night Train At Deoli
"In the last few years I have passed through Deoli many times, and I always look out of the carriage window half-expecting to see the same unchanged face smiling up at me. ... "
"Time Stops At Shamli
It's unclear if he's using the name Shamli for Deoli, latter has been used by him several times, or there are two separate similar stations with seminaries clise to Dehradoon.
"The Dehra Express usually drew into Shamli at about five o’clock in the morning, at which time the station would be dimly lit and the jungle across the tracks would just be visible in the faint light of dawn. Shamli is a small station at the foot of the Siwalik hills, and the Siwaliks lie at the foot of the Himalayas, which in turn lie at the feet of God."
"It was a small white bungalow, with a garden in the front, banana trees at the sides, and an orchard of guava trees at the back. We came jingling up to the front verandah. Nobody appeared, nor was there any sign of life on the premises."
Ruskin Bond has set the story in India in a small village where there's a train station but nobody gets off despite a ten minute stop, and used characters with Duan names who speak presumably in hindiwigh him, but then the dialogues ought to have sounded plausible in Hindi and they not only don't, they're quite hard to imagine in an I fian language. He's thinking it all as he sits at his desk writing, but thinks in English. And his characters are supposedly Indian, fir mist part, but even those unlikely to have known any English, have dialogues in this story that are very English in spirit, not just words or level of language.
"The person at the piano had distinctive Mongolian features, and so I presumed he was Mr Lin. He hadn’t seen me enter the room, and I stood beside the curtains of the door, watching him play. He had full round lips, and high slanting cheekbones. His eyes were large and round and full of melancholy. His long, slender fingers hardly touched the keys."
As it proceeds, one begins to get a feel of there being an air of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, what with a leopard and forest and the lonely house that's falling to pieces, and people who move fearlessly about - all but the proprietor.
"‘I’m looking for a friend called Major Roberts.’
"Lin gave an exclamation of surprise. I thought he had seen through my deception.
"But another game had begun.
"‘I knew him,’ said Lin. ‘A great friend of mine.’
◆
"‘Yes,’ continued Lin. ‘I knew him. A good chap, Major Roberts.’
"Well, there I was, inventing people to suit my convenience, and people like Mr Lin started inventing relationships with them. I was too intrigued to try and discourage him. I wanted to see how far he would go.
"‘When did you meet him?’ asked Lin, taking the initiative.
"‘Oh, only about three years back. Just before he disappeared. He was last heard of in Shamli.’
"‘Yes, I heard he was here,’ said Lin. ‘But he went away, when he thought his relatives had traced him. He went into the mountains near Tibet.’
"‘Did he?’ I said, unwilling to be instructed further. ‘What part of the country? I come from the hills myself. I know the Mana and Niti passes quite well. If you have any idea of exactly where he went, I think I could find him.’ I had the advantage in this exchange, because I was the one who had originally invented Roberts. Yet I couldn’t bring myself to end his deception, probably because I felt sorry for him. A happy man wouldn’t take the trouble of inventing friendships with people who didn’t exist, he’d be too busy with friends who did."
Author uses another figure after this, or at least a name and idea familiar from another story or sketch that seemed, as one read it, autobiographical but now reading this one wonders. Perhaps did love someone by that name and it's unclear if he met her again or kept imagining it.
"The Tunnel
"The train went into the tunnel and out again; it left the jungle behind and thundered across the endless plains; and Suraj stared out at the darkness, thinking of the lonely cutting in the forest, and the watchman with the lamp who would always remain a firefly for those travelling thousands, as he lit up the darkness for steam engines and leopards."
"Kipling’s Simla
"Every March, when the rhododendrons stain the slopes crimson with their blooms, a sturdy little steam engine goes huffing and puffing through the 103 tunnels ....
Two stories stand out. Snake Trouble is by far the most hilarious story one ever read, not only by this author but generally - it compares well with best of his childhood favourite authir, P. G. Wodehouse, in fact with best of the latter which I'd say is Pigs Hsve Wings. The other is Time Stops At Shamli, where he attempts romance, mystery, suspense, touch of horror, all with his gentle brush, and an air that reminds one of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. Come to think of it, it also feels like something he lived, but not in India.
More than one story here uses his tunnel and leopard experience.
And finally, there is more than one story where he writes in first person but with an Indian protagonist, rendering the imagined dialogues completely unconvincing- often enough he has very English dialogues by characters unlikemy to have spoken English, much less thought in English; one where an Indian schoolboy's thinking and speech sounds more like a much older adult, not young, Englishman.
"Introduction
‘What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass, Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass…’
"William Henry Davies wrote these lines in 1911, and they ring true even over a century later. ... "
Any quarrel with Robert Frost?
"The first time I saw a train, I was standing on a wooded slope outside a tunnel, not far from Kalka. Suddenly, with a shrill whistle and great burst of steam, a green and black engine came snorting out of the blackness. I had turned and run towards my father. ‘A dragon!’ I had shouted. ‘There’s a dragon coming out of its cave!’"
"The Great Train Journey
"He plunged his hands into the straw and pulled out an apple.
"It was a dark, ruby-red apple, and it lay in the dusty palm of Suraj’s hand like some gigantic precious stone, smooth and round and glowing in the sunlight. Suraj looked up, out of the doorway, and thought he saw a tree walking past the train.
"He dropped the apple and stared.
"There was another tree, and another, all walking past the door with increasing rapidity. Suraj stepped forward but lost his balance and fell on his hands and knees. The floor beneath him was vibrating, the wheels were clattering on the rails, the carriage was swaying. The trees were running now, swooping past the train, and the telegraph poles joined them in the crazy race."
The author takes one gently through a slight panic of a preteen boy who is sure his parents would miss him and worry, but is all too looking forward to going to and across sea - to China, Africa - until the train stops at a station, and he's at his inn hometown, bringing the familiar Gentle smile familiar to readers of Bond.
"The Eyes Have It
For some reason one is reminded of works of Fyodor Dostoevsky, specifically White Nights, as one reads this, beginning shortly after beginning reading this story.
It isn't plot or details, it's an air, a whiff of the atmosphere.
" ... Her voice had the sparkle of a mountain stream. As soon as she left the train she would forget our brief encounter. But it would stay with me for the rest of the journey and for some time after."
But then, the twist brings one back, and again takes one back to White Nights -
"‘I don’t remember,’ he said sounding puzzled. ‘It was her eyes I noticed, not her hair. She had beautiful eyes but they were of no use to her. She was completely blind. Didn’t you notice?’"
"The Dragon In The Tunnel
"The first time I saw a train, I was standing on a wooded slope outside a tunnel, not far from Kalka. Suddenly, with a shrill whistle and great burst of steam, a green and black engine came snorting out of the blackness.
"I turned and run towards my father. ‘A dragon!’ I had shouted. ‘There’s a dragon coming out of its cave!’
"Since then, steam engines and dragons have always inspired the same sort of feelings in me—wonder and awe and delight. I would like to see a real dragon one day, green and gold and—because I have always preferred the ‘reluctant’ sort—rather shy and gentle; but until that day comes, I shall be content with steam engines."
Funny, if he really did want that, why not spend a few weeks at Loch Ness? Reportedly, there haven't been any harms reported to anyone, although some people have been terrified.
He recounts a story familiar from another of his collection.
"We had gone about twenty yards into the tunnel when the light from the lamp fell on the leopard, which was crouching between the tracks, only about twenty feet away from us. It bared its teeth in a snarl and went down on its stomach, tail twisting. I thought it was going to spring. ... "
"Belting Around Mumbai
"I have lived to see Bombay become Mumbai, Calcutta become Kolkata, and Madras become Chennai. Times change, names change, and if Bond becomes Bonda I won’t object. ... "
He's lived in India from his childhood on, and talks to locals. Did he never get a clue? That British had distorted two of the names he's claiming are changed now? That Mumbai, and Kaalieghattaa, were the original names, after the major temples?
The name Madras was changed by politics of Tamil state that was turned poisonous by Macaulay policy of British, and further by policy of Jinnah to break India into pieces, both sowing hatred in Tamil people against Sanskrit and its derivative languages, and people who spoke them. Madra is an ancient name, familiar to India since millennia, from Mahaabhaarata. Krishna from Mathura, a name replicated in Tamil Nadu as Madurai, was married to Satyabhaamaa, daughter of Jaambuvanta, and in Tamil Nadu the most loved of all wives of Krishna, even though she was neither first nor best in character - obviously, it was due to her being from the region. So the connection is as ancient as Raamaayana, where Jaambuvanta is first mentioned. But political parties preferred the British and Pakistan policy of pretending tamilians were disconnected from mainstream India, hence wiping out a name that's connected with Mahaabhaarata, Krishna, all of India since several millennia.
"I auditioned for a role in a Tarzan film.
"‘Who do you wish to play?’ asked the casting director. ‘Tarzan, of course,’ I said.
"He gave me a long hard look. ‘Can you swing from one tree to another?’ he asked.
"‘Easily,’ I said. ‘I can even swing from a chandelier.’ And I proceeded to do so, wrecking the hall they sat in, in the process. They begged me to stop.
"‘Thank you, Mr Bond, you have made your point. But we don’t think you have the figure for the part of Tarzan. Would you like to take the part of the missionary who is being cooked to a crisp by a bunch of cannibals? Tarzan will come to your rescue.’
"I declined the role with dignity."
He describes a book event where "Gulzar read Ghalib, ... " and being taken to a market to spend a thousand which he did on two pairs of ladies slippers and two ladies handbags.
"At the airport, one of the Kingfisher staff complimented me on my dress sense; the first time anyone has done so.
"‘Your blue shirt matches your eyes,’ she said.
"After that, I shall definitely fly Kingfisher again."
That dates the writing more than the publication date!
"Going Home
A story about a simple, good-natured man being taking advantage of by thugs.
"The Long Day
About a boy spending a day out and returning late, only to realise he's to do it again next day.
"Suraj felt a little lonely now. Somehow, the passing of the train left him with a feeling of being alone in a wide, empty world. He was feeling hungry too. He went back to the field where he had seen some lichi trees, climbed into one of them and began plucking and peeling and eating the juicy red-skinned fruit. No one seemed to own the lichi trees ... "
"The Tiger In The Tunnel
Author begins with a memory of his own, turned into a third person story, details changed.
"The station, a small shack backed by heavy jungle, was a station in name only; for trains only stopped there, if at all, for a few seconds before entering the deep cutting that led to the tunnel. Most trains merely slowed down before taking the sharp curve before the cutting.
"Baldeo was responsible for signalling whether or not the tunnel was clear of obstruction, and his hand-worked signal stood before the entrance. At night it was his duty to see that the lamp was burning, and that the overland mail passed through safely."
" ... He did not have to wonder for long. Before a minute had passed he made out the huge body of the tiger trotting steadily towards him. Its eyes shone a brilliant green in the light from the signal lamp. ... "
And ends very differently.
"He sat down in the darkness to wait for the train, and sang softly to himself. There was nothing to be afraid of—his father had killed the tiger, the forest gods were pleased; and besides, he had the axe with him, his father’s axe, and he knew how to use it."
"The Woman on Platform number 8
It's a sweet story, written in first person but not with the author's own identity, but the real trouble is, while the protagonist is an Indian boy, the language and thought process of the story is that of an older person and not an Indian. The mismatch is quite definite and not covered enough to be hidden by the sweetness of the story.
"Snake Trouble
"The first to see us arrive was Tutu the monkey, who was swinging from a branch of the jackfruit tree. One look at the python, ancient enemy of her race, and she fled into the house squealing with fright. Then our parrot, Popeye, who had his perch on the verandah, set up the most awful shrieking and whistling. His whistle was like that of a steam engine. He had learnt to do this in earlier days, when we had lived near railway stations.
"The noise brought Grandmother to the verandah, where she nearly fainted at the sight of the python curled round Grandfather’s neck."
"We hurried off to the bazaar in search of the snake charmer but hadn’t gone far when we found several snake charmers looking for us. They had heard that Grandfather was buying snakes, and they had brought with them snakes of various sizes and descriptions."
"But the man who had sold it to us had, apparently, returned to his village in the jungle, looking for another python for Grandfather; and the other snake charmers were not interested in buying, only in selling. In order to shake them off, we had to return home by a roundabout route, climbing a wall and cutting through an orchard. We found Grandmother pacing up and down the verandah. One look at our faces and she knew we had failed to get rid of the snake."
"‘He’s gone,’ announced Grandfather.
"‘We left the window open,’ I said.
"‘Deliberately, no doubt,’ said Grandmother. ‘But it couldn’t have gone far. You’ll have to search the grounds.’
"A careful search was made of the house, the roof, the kitchen, the garden and the chicken shed, but there was no sign of the python."
"Sure enough, the python began to make brief but frequent appearances, usually up in the most unexpected places.
"One morning I found him curled up on a dressing table, gazing at his own reflection in the mirror. I went for Grandfather, but by the time we returned the python had moved on.
"He was seen again in the garden, and one day I spotted him climbing the iron ladder to the roof. ... "
"The major met me on the steps of his house.
"‘And what has your kind granny sent me today, Ranji?’ he asked.
"‘A surprise for your birthday, sir,’ I said, and put the basket down in front of him. The python, who had been buried beneath all the guavas, chose this moment to wake up and stand straight up to a height of several feet. Guavas tumbled all over the place. The major uttered an oath and dashed indoors.
"I pushed the python back into the basket, picked it up, mounted the bicycle, and rode out of the gate in record time. And it was as well that I did so, because Major Malik came charging out of the house armed with a double-barrelled shotgun, which he was waving all over the place."
"‘Thank you for the lovely surprise,’ he wrote. ‘Obviously you could not have known that my doctor had advised me against any undue excitement. My blood pressure has been rather high. The sight of your grandson does not improve it. All the same, it’s the thought that matters and I take it all in good humour…’
"‘What a strange letter,’ said Grandmother. ‘He must be ill, poor man. Are guavas bad for blood pressure?’
"‘Not by themselves, they aren’t,’ said Grandfather, who had an inkling of what had happened. ‘But together with other things they can be a bit upsetting.’"
" ... Dehra railway platform was thrown into confusion by the shrieks and whistles of our parrot, who could imitate both the guard’s whistle and the whistle of a train. People dashed into their compartments, thinking the train was about to leave, only to realize that the guard hadn’t blown his whistle after all. When they got down, Popeye would let out another shrill whistle, which sent everyone rushing for the train again. This happened several times until the guard actually blew his whistle. Then nobody bothered to get on, and several passengers were left behind."
"Whenever we stopped at a station, Popeye objected to fruit sellers and other people poking their heads in through the windows. Before the journey was over, he had nipped two fingers and a nose, and tweaked a ticket inspector’s ear."
"‘Well, I’m hungry,’ I said. ‘What did Granny make for us?’ ‘Stuffed samosas, omelettes, and tandoori chicken. It’s all in the hamper under the berth.’
"I tugged at the cane box and dragged it into the middle of the compartment. The straps were loosely tied. No sooner had I undone them than the lid flew open, and I let out a gasp of surprise."
"Placing the hamper on the table, she lifted the lid and peered inside. And promptly fainted.
"Grandfather picked up the python, took it into the garden, and draped it over a branch of a pomegranate tree."
"The Night Train At Deoli
"In the last few years I have passed through Deoli many times, and I always look out of the carriage window half-expecting to see the same unchanged face smiling up at me. ... "
"Time Stops At Shamli
It's unclear if he's using the name Shamli for Deoli, latter has been used by him several times, or there are two separate similar stations with seminaries clise to Dehradoon.
"The Dehra Express usually drew into Shamli at about five o’clock in the morning, at which time the station would be dimly lit and the jungle across the tracks would just be visible in the faint light of dawn. Shamli is a small station at the foot of the Siwalik hills, and the Siwaliks lie at the foot of the Himalayas, which in turn lie at the feet of God."
"It was a small white bungalow, with a garden in the front, banana trees at the sides, and an orchard of guava trees at the back. We came jingling up to the front verandah. Nobody appeared, nor was there any sign of life on the premises."
Ruskin Bond has set the story in India in a small village where there's a train station but nobody gets off despite a ten minute stop, and used characters with Duan names who speak presumably in hindiwigh him, but then the dialogues ought to have sounded plausible in Hindi and they not only don't, they're quite hard to imagine in an I fian language. He's thinking it all as he sits at his desk writing, but thinks in English. And his characters are supposedly Indian, fir mist part, but even those unlikely to have known any English, have dialogues in this story that are very English in spirit, not just words or level of language.
"The person at the piano had distinctive Mongolian features, and so I presumed he was Mr Lin. He hadn’t seen me enter the room, and I stood beside the curtains of the door, watching him play. He had full round lips, and high slanting cheekbones. His eyes were large and round and full of melancholy. His long, slender fingers hardly touched the keys."
As it proceeds, one begins to get a feel of there being an air of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, what with a leopard and forest and the lonely house that's falling to pieces, and people who move fearlessly about - all but the proprietor.
"‘I’m looking for a friend called Major Roberts.’
"Lin gave an exclamation of surprise. I thought he had seen through my deception.
"But another game had begun.
"‘I knew him,’ said Lin. ‘A great friend of mine.’
◆
"‘Yes,’ continued Lin. ‘I knew him. A good chap, Major Roberts.’
"Well, there I was, inventing people to suit my convenience, and people like Mr Lin started inventing relationships with them. I was too intrigued to try and discourage him. I wanted to see how far he would go.
"‘When did you meet him?’ asked Lin, taking the initiative.
"‘Oh, only about three years back. Just before he disappeared. He was last heard of in Shamli.’
"‘Yes, I heard he was here,’ said Lin. ‘But he went away, when he thought his relatives had traced him. He went into the mountains near Tibet.’
"‘Did he?’ I said, unwilling to be instructed further. ‘What part of the country? I come from the hills myself. I know the Mana and Niti passes quite well. If you have any idea of exactly where he went, I think I could find him.’ I had the advantage in this exchange, because I was the one who had originally invented Roberts. Yet I couldn’t bring myself to end his deception, probably because I felt sorry for him. A happy man wouldn’t take the trouble of inventing friendships with people who didn’t exist, he’d be too busy with friends who did."
Author uses another figure after this, or at least a name and idea familiar from another story or sketch that seemed, as one read it, autobiographical but now reading this one wonders. Perhaps did love someone by that name and it's unclear if he met her again or kept imagining it.
"The Tunnel
"The train went into the tunnel and out again; it left the jungle behind and thundered across the endless plains; and Suraj stared out at the darkness, thinking of the lonely cutting in the forest, and the watchman with the lamp who would always remain a firefly for those travelling thousands, as he lit up the darkness for steam engines and leopards."
"Kipling’s Simla
"Every March, when the rhododendrons stain the slopes crimson with their blooms, a sturdy little steam engine goes huffing and puffing through the 103 tunnels ....
August 2, 2023
Amazing book!!!
October 21, 2024
Good read. I liked it as a mountain and train lover.
May 13, 2021
This book has very simple stories revolving around the people on their train journey. Since train is an important mode of communication in india, it is a central theme in all these stories.
The reason I gave it a 3 star is because many of the stories had common paragraphs and plots which were repeated, be it about the tunnel journey or about the leopard or tiger in the forest, describing the nature etc. I got a little annoyed by that. Moreover, it's a short and quick read.
The reason I gave it a 3 star is because many of the stories had common paragraphs and plots which were repeated, be it about the tunnel journey or about the leopard or tiger in the forest, describing the nature etc. I got a little annoyed by that. Moreover, it's a short and quick read.
August 15, 2022
Being a fan of the Ruskin Bond books and stories, I found it to be a bit of a bummer. Maybe because I had already read most of the short stories in this compilation before as part of other books but even then it seemed to have a lot of repetition. The description of the lonely station at the hillside or the tunnel and the leopard and the guard that would light the lamp at the tunnel - it all seemed to be going in circles. :(
March 26, 2020
This book is a collection of thirteen short stories. In this book, Ruskin bond takes you on a journey of the amazing railway stations of small towns of India. The main character of the book is Suraj. This book will take you to the great train journies. Check this article about 40 Ruskin Bond Books!! https://dailybugle.in/ruskin-bond-boo...
May 30, 2021
Loved the first few stories as they were simple and very relatable and reminded me of my own railway journeys when I was a child but in the later stories the theme, the locale and even the movements of the characters were almost all the same, I started forgetting when I chapter/story ended and another began. A bit disapointing.
August 22, 2018
Reading Ruskin Bond is a delightful journey with memorable experiences that one encounters. This anthology with 13 such memorable stories takes the reader to experience such journey.
May 23, 2025
Book: The Great Train Journey
Author: Ruskin Bond
Pages: 119
Publication: Rupa
Genre: Anthology
So far, May has been a crazy month. In an FB group, books are being swapped enthusiastically. No sooner do I empty out a portion of my shelf than I see it getting filled up. Not that I am complaining.
A friend of mine gifted me this book, and I couldn’t prevent the huge grin that appeared on my face. Who can say no to Ruskin Bond?
Book
How old were you when you first travelled by train? Do you have wonderful memories associated with the locomotives? If nostalgia is your friend, this anthology of thirteen stories will take you right down that lane.
Review:
The Great Train Journey is a treasure trove for railway lovers. It has the stamp of Bond all over it. Laced with simplicity and rooted in the rural life of India, the stories will brighten up a gloomy day. They bring to the forefront unsung heroes like watchmen, whose task is to check the tunnel for any hindrances before they give the green signal to the engine drivers. Even in cases where there are malicious co-passengers involved, simpletons like Daya Ram still believe in goodness and never hesitate to talk to complete strangers. After all, a train journey is incomplete if you haven’t made new friends.
As a fan of humour, I loved ‘Belting Around Mumbai’. Only Ruskin Bond can get away with writing about lit fests in such a charmingly honest manner.
"Gulzar read from Ghalib, Tom Alter read from Gulzar, Mandira Bedi read from Nandita Puri, and everyone read madly from each other, and I sat quietly in a corner to keep my belt out of further entanglements."
My second favourite was ‘Snake Trouble’, where an eccentric old man keeps a python, in addition to a parrot and a monkey. The escapades of the humans and the animals kept me entertained throughout.
"The python, who had been buried beneath all the guavas, chose this moment to wake up and stand straight up to a height of several feet. Guavas tumbled all over the place. The major uttered an oath and dashed indoors."
The longest story was ‘Time Stops at Shamli’. True to its name, time stood still as I travelled with the narrator to a lonely place, only to feel sorry for his lost love. Yet, hope lingers, just like the protagonist.
It took me less than an hour to complete the book. When I turned to the last page, I reminisced about the journeys in a sleeper class Coromandel Express. A tiny chuckle escaped my lips as my mind wandered to the innocent me of the 80s, who looked forward to wolfing down oily puris and gulping bottles of water filled in from the countless taps on the platforms.
Some books are worth cherishing. This is one of them. What is life without the trains?
Author: Ruskin Bond
Pages: 119
Publication: Rupa
Genre: Anthology
So far, May has been a crazy month. In an FB group, books are being swapped enthusiastically. No sooner do I empty out a portion of my shelf than I see it getting filled up. Not that I am complaining.
A friend of mine gifted me this book, and I couldn’t prevent the huge grin that appeared on my face. Who can say no to Ruskin Bond?
Book
How old were you when you first travelled by train? Do you have wonderful memories associated with the locomotives? If nostalgia is your friend, this anthology of thirteen stories will take you right down that lane.
Review:
The Great Train Journey is a treasure trove for railway lovers. It has the stamp of Bond all over it. Laced with simplicity and rooted in the rural life of India, the stories will brighten up a gloomy day. They bring to the forefront unsung heroes like watchmen, whose task is to check the tunnel for any hindrances before they give the green signal to the engine drivers. Even in cases where there are malicious co-passengers involved, simpletons like Daya Ram still believe in goodness and never hesitate to talk to complete strangers. After all, a train journey is incomplete if you haven’t made new friends.
As a fan of humour, I loved ‘Belting Around Mumbai’. Only Ruskin Bond can get away with writing about lit fests in such a charmingly honest manner.
"Gulzar read from Ghalib, Tom Alter read from Gulzar, Mandira Bedi read from Nandita Puri, and everyone read madly from each other, and I sat quietly in a corner to keep my belt out of further entanglements."
My second favourite was ‘Snake Trouble’, where an eccentric old man keeps a python, in addition to a parrot and a monkey. The escapades of the humans and the animals kept me entertained throughout.
"The python, who had been buried beneath all the guavas, chose this moment to wake up and stand straight up to a height of several feet. Guavas tumbled all over the place. The major uttered an oath and dashed indoors."
The longest story was ‘Time Stops at Shamli’. True to its name, time stood still as I travelled with the narrator to a lonely place, only to feel sorry for his lost love. Yet, hope lingers, just like the protagonist.
It took me less than an hour to complete the book. When I turned to the last page, I reminisced about the journeys in a sleeper class Coromandel Express. A tiny chuckle escaped my lips as my mind wandered to the innocent me of the 80s, who looked forward to wolfing down oily puris and gulping bottles of water filled in from the countless taps on the platforms.
Some books are worth cherishing. This is one of them. What is life without the trains?
December 28, 2022
The fascination that a train kindles in a person with the grandeur in its appearance is a feeling everyone would have experienced from their childhood. The longing for the first train travel starts when a kid sees a train pass-by near their home or in a railway crossing and waves its hands - and the train never disappoints a passenger on his/her first train journey. Ruskin Bond's "The Great Train Journey" is a collection of short stories that have trains as the theme.
The picturesque landscapes that unfold on either side of the train are beautifully put into words in some of the stories here. The stories which have kids as the central characters instil a sense of nostalgia and take us back in time to revisit our childhood. The stories written here reach both extremes - a busy railway station bustling with regular activity and a deserted railway station which has mysteries to be unearthed. The stories where the protagonist tries to uncover the mysteries behind deserted railway stations remind us the times when we had wondered about the same. The sight of a train whistling and storming out of a tunnel might leave the readers longing to experience it, especially those who haven't witnessed it standing at the foot of a tunnel.
Ruskin Bond's characters are nothing short of reality and his stories are mere reflection of the day-to-day happenings around us. A railway station is where people from all strata of the society are seen and there are times when that stratification temporarily vanishes with conversations that happen during train travel. The train journey, the co-travellers, the conversations, the vendors who keep moving along the length of the train back and forth and the happenings that keep the long journeys engaging are portrayed brilliantly here.
Barring some repetitive themes, Ruskin Bond has given us a good collection of stories that will linger in our minds for a day or two. Few stories have something at the end that comes as a surprise and that makes this book a delightful read.
http://arunbswaminathan.blogspot.com/...
The picturesque landscapes that unfold on either side of the train are beautifully put into words in some of the stories here. The stories which have kids as the central characters instil a sense of nostalgia and take us back in time to revisit our childhood. The stories written here reach both extremes - a busy railway station bustling with regular activity and a deserted railway station which has mysteries to be unearthed. The stories where the protagonist tries to uncover the mysteries behind deserted railway stations remind us the times when we had wondered about the same. The sight of a train whistling and storming out of a tunnel might leave the readers longing to experience it, especially those who haven't witnessed it standing at the foot of a tunnel.
Ruskin Bond's characters are nothing short of reality and his stories are mere reflection of the day-to-day happenings around us. A railway station is where people from all strata of the society are seen and there are times when that stratification temporarily vanishes with conversations that happen during train travel. The train journey, the co-travellers, the conversations, the vendors who keep moving along the length of the train back and forth and the happenings that keep the long journeys engaging are portrayed brilliantly here.
Barring some repetitive themes, Ruskin Bond has given us a good collection of stories that will linger in our minds for a day or two. Few stories have something at the end that comes as a surprise and that makes this book a delightful read.
http://arunbswaminathan.blogspot.com/...
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