Reading 17:-Roads to Mussoorie:- Ruskin Bond- A Review!!

Roads to Mussoorie!

Ruskin Bond is my all time favorite since ages now and Roads to Mussoorie is no exception filled with the heart warming, comical, poetic short stories of days cherished in Mussoorie & nearby places by Bond.

Beginning with a funny poem followed by a backward instead of foreward, as it is a collection of Bond’s reminiscences in Landour, Mussoorie and ending the book with forward as a sign to keep moving forward, no matter what.

No doubt, with his stories, Ruskin Bond rules one’s heart, always alive in his readers’ heart, as there is a thing about stories- they never die, always travelling one way or other from story tellers to curious listeners.

If i may ask you…
you had your breakfast today, right?
Was it just to full your stomach
& rush to office or it was chewed
with saliva of love & emotions?
And also with sprinkles of laughter?
Remember having a party time
with those awkward & clumsy friends
who always can be a pain but then,
they are the ones always
alive in your memory secreting serotonin.
Our kitchen is empty without aloo
आलू टिक्की , आलू सब्जी , आलू दम remain our all time dishes,
but how many of us wonder
how आलू  turns out to be having such a deep impact in our lives??
Do ghost stories haunt you?
Ever woke up in the middle of night shouting- भूत, भूत, भूत???
Do you have your own travel stories of places for the world to share with,
Mixed with spices of historical & interesting facts,
Strangers’ meeting, wild trekking, awe-inspiring sceneries??
Do you still wait for those early days postmen to arrive at your door with letters??

Everything that you crave of the golden old days, Roads to Mussoorie is a reminiscent to all of those.

And the loveliest of all is it has so lively fragrance of Mussoorie in it that you would definetely crave to pay a visit to this lovely hill station in Dehradun, Uttarakhand in your life for once.

However, keeping aside all the lovely side of Roads to Mussoorie, one aspect which i certainly would like Ruskin Bond to look into closely is his admiration for savoring non-vegetarians like sausage, bacon, mutton, etc. and expressing his love for these items in quite a poetic, simple and comical style. I understand that Bond expresses his heart out the way it is but apart from all this, i being completely against killing of animals only to satisfy one’s tongue & stomach, got into thinking that a writer & her/his writing is a kind of inspiration to all the readers out there & readers actually start following a writer’s footsteps and i really don't want even a part of this world to actually be insensitive to animals’ killing & full their stomach inspired by Bond’s stories because he is so adorable to Mother Nature.

Anyways, the point is, no matter what, at the end, you would find yourself appreciating little things that just go unnoticed but has a precious role to play in our lives. Bond has a keen & special eyes for them & you would wear those spectacles too while reading- Roads to Mussoorie..

Enjoy!!!

Well- there is this small poem too dedicated to Roads to Mussoorie posted on goodreads profile as well. Thought of posting it here as well. Here, it goes-

Roads to Mussoorie-

Its a journey, where one feels at home.
And, my friends, what is this word….home??
Your home is where your heart feels every breathe.
Where there is no rush to be at the top or reach out a destination.
Rather, you value cherishing your life around little things that go unnoticed.

Savoring your breakfast
Your memories with your friends,
Picnic parties with family
Old letter days from the postman
Moments with your beloved..
Admiring the beauty of wild flowers in the spring
Getting your pants wet over haunting phantom stories
Laughing out loud at yourself
Travelling with Nature at your own gentle pace
Meeting butterflies and shining sun
Lying under the canopy of dark sky
Dreaming in the lap of Mother nature
Listening to mellow rustle of leaves
Talking secretly with trees
Watching Himalayan birds fly
Bidding them Hie!!
Your Travel stories, strangers’ meeting and thus, your life goes on and on.
You are okay walking like a tortoise because that’s what makes you live at the fullest.

And when you are old,
& you feel that you have actually lived your life
Soaked in love & kindness
You still prefer to move forward
Since now, you have a beautiful backward
entwined in stories for the world to tell
That, Now, you want to frame a new one again..

That’s Roads to Mussoorie.
A road where you can walk relishing with the lovely reminiscences of Bond and who knows, they remind you of yours too!!!

To ease your novella reading, here is a collection of vocabulary of difficult words from the book..

Note- The post contains a product.

and also published in medium and goodreads profile.