One of the Best books I have ever read!!! ( )

The Ruskin Bond Mini Bus justifies its name. It’s a journey of Ruskin Bond starting with his childhood and finally graduating to the present day. The journey ends with a foreword. This journey is divided into four major sections  ++ Himalayan Tales++ The India I Love ++ A Little Night Music ++ Roads to Mussorie Ruskin Bond takes us through his childhood through the Himalayan Tales. The journey of discovering a pool, a river, mountains, glacier….the tales of childhood innocence where they were all eager to listen to a spooky story but post the story even a knock at the door is scary.  My favorite story from this section is The Cherry Tree, where a kid sows the cherry seeds he has eaten. What’s his reaction when he sees the grown cherry tree after some years? ’Just one small seed, I Wonder, Is this what it feels to be God?’This one line says so much. We are not aware of the reactions to our actions. We sometimes feel so low with life; we feel that we aren’t doing anything worth while; we are not adding value to life. But then these are the times to sit back and introspect, each of our actions give us a result, we might not be aware of its significance but however small it might be, We do Make a difference. As Bond says, The Simplest Things in life are best-A Patch of green,A small bird’s nest,The taste of Bread,A song of old,These are the things that matter most,The laughter of child,A favorite book,The touch of loving hand,And time to Rest- These simple things in life are best.This journey of Mini Bus will make you crave for nature, your childhood, the innocence of friendships & love....which we have lost in our run for money!!!! In The India he loves, RB talks about the people he has met in life, about his extended family. The India he loves is the India he relates to, it’s made of people he has met, bonded with, lived with. India for him is all about people, love & moments. The essence of this section for me is very simple. We go to new places, meet new people, acquire new assets and sometimes even start a new life. We always imagine ourselves to be in love with our new house, our new laptop, our new handset, our new friend. But is that what we carry forward later? No, it’s the memories which remain with us forever. It’s the moments that we spend together that remain with us. Because people can ove forward in life, people can leave you, hurt you but what they can’t take with them is the magic of those moments & memories, they will remain with us FOREVER.  A Little Night Music is a collection of lovely poems of Ruskin Bond. Ranging from a poem on cricket to flowers to children…sample this  Cricket never will be fairTill Bowlers get their rightful shareFor toiling in the mid-day sun.What should be done?It’s simple –Make those wickets broader, taller!That should make it much more fun, for the poor perspiring bowler.PS And in the interest of the game, the size of the bat remains the same… Is it a poem? No it’s a collection of thoughts, some lovely thoughts. Many a times while reading this book I just threw back my head and laughed aloud. Mr. Bond uses simple witty lines which make you smile. Wouldn’t you smile if he says that his overgrown tummy is a ‘balcony’…wouldn’t you smile when he is explaining that writing under a chestnut tree is better than sitting on a chair & writing and bang!!! falls a chestnut on his head….   In the third and final section of the book RB tells us about his life & escapades in Mussorie. Why did he not move out of Mussorie? He says, “ I forgot to go away.”He talks about places near Mussorie, about his days there….this section is a collection of random thoughts of days & nights spent in the city. His love & affection is reflected here…   All in all, this book is a collection of thoughts & events. Sometimes random, sometimes in flow, one thing which keeps the book bound by is the theme. The theme of living your life to the fullest, taking in the bad with the good. Enjoying the simple things of life & moving forward.  I don’t know how many times I have read this book but do you know how? I never leave a book mark in this one. I pick it up and randomly open a page and start reading it but never feel lost. Its so because it’s a collection of thoughts, which can never be book marked, they are always in a flow; you can meet them wherever you want to. This book has always helped me, it has always made me smile, in however bad mood I am this book has been a healer in more than one ways. I relived my childhood with Ruskin the kid, I relived my singleton days with bachelor Ruskin… This book is a must read for all Ruskin fans, wanna be fans, for those who enjoy simple things in life, those who are missing something or someone in their lives...those who want to smile....the book is a must read for all book lovers....~~~~~My Dream~~~~~There is a knight in shining Armor, he picks me up and transports me to Mussorie.....Have landed under the Chestnut tree, where Mr. Bond is busy scribbling his thoughts. He is shocked to see me...Hey Gal what are you doing here?Sir, I had a dream to meet you and here I am with a small request.He asks me, What?Sir will you take me through the mountains, the pools, the river, the nook & corner of Mussorie? Will you let me put my arms in the crook of your arm? Will you show me these places with your eyes? Will you show me how to see the beauty in these simple things? I want to learn to live with these simple things, I want to smile on the simplest things...Sir, will you teach me????I will also thank him for being with me through my sad days & bad days, will thank him for making me realise through his writings that life is all about loving, caring, finding joy in small things & living.. Its about meeting new people making memories with them, take them with you if they want to, if they don’t gift them some memories so that even if you are not around you are missed....its about letting go and moving forward in life.....Am still waiting for his answer, but I don’t want this dream to end.....This one is for Ramya, who through her last review reminded me that if there is nothing else in life I atleast have Ruskin Bond to fall upon. And he didn’t let me down this time too...he made me smilePS If the dream does come true, I’ll get author signed copies of his book, so please tell me whoever wants one.PPS No Chintu’s Library request for this one, I can’t let this book out of my sightPPPS I already have an author signed book from Ruskin Bond...;-)