Showing results by author "Ruskin Bond" in All Categories

"What do you do when there's an earthquake?" asks Rakesh. Everyone in the Burman household has their own ideas, but when the tremors begin and things start to quake and crumble, they are all taken by surprise. Amidst the destruction, Rakesh's family stays strong. But will they survive the onslaught of yet another earthquake?

In this brilliantly listenable autobiography, one of India’s greatest writers shows us the roots of everything he has written. He begins with a dream and a gentle haunting before taking us to an idyllic childhood in Jamnagar by the Arabian Sea and New Delhi in the early 1940s - where he found material for his first short story. A search for companionship and security, undercut by a fierce independence and a tendency for risk-taking, would inform every choice he made for the rest of his life.

Is the perfect murder ever possible? Find out in this collection of stories where plenty of mysterious and strange crimes occur. Featuring some of the best writers of this genre, from Arthur Conan Doyle and Wilkie Collins to Edgar Allen Poe and Ruskin Bond, these stories will keep the listener hooked as they try to guess the motives, alibis and identity of the murderer. Baffling and exciting, this book is for those who enjoy pitting brains against some of the most accomplished writers of mystery stories.

Tall and sturdy, their leaves gently rustling in the wind, trees form the backbone of life on Earth. They never discriminate between life forms while welding them from the heat or showering them with their bounty. But these providers of life have always been taken for granted, chopped down or burnt to ashes to accommodate the March of modernity. In this book, Ruskin Bond gives a humane touch to these gentle giants, from the legendary Willows, who do more than ‘weep’, to the godlike deodars, who are forever trying to reach the heavens to live up to their name.

Told in Ruskin Bond's simple yet poignant style, the stories and poems in No Man Is an Island thoughtfully explore the many shades of friendship and camaraderie. Featuring classic tales such as 'The Woman on Platform No. 8', in which a mysterious stranger befriends a young boy, and 'The Crooked Tree', in which a writer and a hawker form an unlikely bond, this heartwarming collection is a must-listen.

Ruskin Bond is a master of the short story. This pitch-perfect collection brings together the very best tales he has written in the 21st century. The book starts with the title story, ‘Song of the Forest’, which has never been published before, and includes extraordinary pieces of fiction like ‘A Man Called Brain’, ‘Rhododendrons in the Mist’, and ‘Miracle at Happy Bazaar’. Dazzling, comic, and gripping, Song of the Forest is the latest masterpiece from India’s most beloved writer.

Rakesh plants a cherry seedling in his garden and watches it grow. As seasons go by, the small tree survives heavy monsoon showers, a hungry goat that eats most of the leaves, and a grass cutter who splits it into two with one sweep. At last, on his ninth birthday, Rakesh is rewarded with a miraculous sight - the first pink blossoms of his precious cherry tree!

This book catches up with our favorite Rusty as he plunges not just into the cold pools of Dehra but into an exciting new life, dipping his toes into adulthood. Winding his way back to the city with Kishen, Rusty discovers that his beloved room is no longer his! Undaunted, however, and in his trademark style, he forges new homes and new friendships as he embarks on a journey of self-discovery that spans the beautiful hillsides of India.

In his trademark warm, witty, whimsical style and his marvellously simple prose, Ruskin tells us how to enjoy the advancing years some of us are blessed with, and how to make the most of the amazing gift called life.

Rusty, the boy whose stories have charmed and entertained children for years, brings together his best adventures in one volume! From the time he was a boy living with his grandparents in Dehra, surrounded by an assortment of odd animals, people and relatives, to when he gets sent away to school, then makes his way to London and becomes a writer, Rusty's had more adventures than we can count.

Miss Ripley-Bean was sitting on a bench beneath the deodars, having a quiet moment to herself, when suddenly two shadows, larger than life, appeared on the outside wall; they were struggling with each other. Only afterwards, when a dead body was discovered, did Miss Ripley-Bean realize she had witnessed a murder - and that the murderer had seen her.

The Shadow on the Wall brings together Ruskin Bond’s most chilling works of fright and terror. The 21 stories in this book include classics such as ‘A Face in the Dark’, ‘The Chakrata Cat’ and ‘Susanna’s Seven Husbands’, along with a dose of eerie new tales that have never been published before.

School Days is a collection of stories that captures the splendour of our school days. Here Ruskin Bond has weaved together some of the most adventurous and engaging school stories written by master storytellers like Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Samuel Smiles, Anton Chekhov, Richmal Crompton and others.

Why be happy and how, and why not to worry if you think you are not. Why it is easy to be happy, and how you can miss happiness even if it stands before you. How a bird can fill you with joy and how a stranger’s smile can soothe you. Why happiness may not even be the word for what we really need.

The wild wind pushes open windows, chokes chimneys, and blows away clothes as it huffs and puffs over the village by Haunted Hill, where Usha, Suresh, and Binya live. It's even more mighty the day Usha is on her way back from the bazaar. A deep rumble echoes down the slope, and a sudden flash of lightning lights up the valley as fat drops come raining down. In search of shelter, Usha rushes into the ruins on Haunted Hill, grim and creepy against the dark sky. Inside, the tin roof groans, strange shadows are thrown against the walls, and little Usha shivers with fear.

"A Handful of Nuts" is a gloriously funny and unexpectedly tender story of being young and adventurous in small town India. The central character would like to establish himself as a writer, but he is constantly diverted from his task by assorted escapades, romances, friends, and other distractions. "The Sensualist" is altogether more somber but deals with a similar theme - the trials and tribulations of a young man are coming of age. Gripping, erotic, even brutal, it explores the demons that its protagonist must grapple with before he is able to come to terms with himself.

For more than four decades now, by way of innumerable short stories, essays, poems, and novels, Ruskin Bond has championed simplicity and quietude in life and in art. This collection of essays and episodes from his journals is, in his own words, "a celebration of my survival as a freelance".

A Hindi translation of Ruskin Bond’s A Handful of Nuts by Rachna Bhola ‘Yamini’, this novel is the story of a 21-year-old writer in a small town in India. Alternately witty, poignant, tender and hilarious, the tale begins with the writer describing his simple and frugal life in Dehra. He occupies a tiny room, spending his days eating at the roadside restaurants, watching cinema and reading all English publications he can find. His goal is to find avenues to get his short stories published, and though he finds plenty such publications, none of those pay well.

The 21 stories in this book are the greatest pieces of fiction written by Ruskin Bond. Chosen by the author himself, from a body of work built over 50 years, this collection includes well-known masterpieces like 'The Night Train at Deoli', 'The Woman on Platform No 8', 'Rusty Plays Holi' (from The Room on the Roof), 'Angry River', 'The Blue Umbrella', 'The Eyes Have It', 'Most Beautiful' and 'Panther's Moon' as well as newer stories.

In this delightful collection, Ruskin Bond introduces us to the Dehradun he knows intimately and loves unreservedly - the town in which he had spent many years of his childhood and youth. A town which, when he knew it, was one of pony-drawn tongas and rickshaws; a town fond of gossip but tolerant of human foibles; a town of lush lichi trees; charming winter gardens and cool streams; a small town; a sleepy town; a town called "Dehra".