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Saturday, May 12, 2018

Lone Fox Dancing: Autobiography of Ruskin Bond


If there is one thing among a lot, I wish to do in my life before I die, is to go into the Cambridge Book store of Mussoorie on a cold Sunday Evening, and meet Ruskin Bond. I would probably be overwhelmed by seeing him personally, would fumble up words like I usually do most of the time and tell him “Thank you for all the memorable stories you have told over the years, you are my childhood Hero”.  


Lone Fox Dancing is an autobiography of one of the most celebrated, popular, influential and treasured writer in India, Owen Ruskin Bond. For the better part of more than six decades, Mr. Bond has earned his livelihood through writing. For years, he has played a significant role in many childhoods through his writing, be it telling a simple poem, making us laugh through funny anecdotes involving himself or people around him, occasionally spooking us through the horror stories he told, spelling magic around the minds of his readers through the visuals of Himalayas, coming out of his comfort zone and writing erotica in his own distinctive style and giving us an example of his versatility in terms of the subjects he wrote about, but most importantly, he has kept us engaged, engulfed and emotionally invested in the fascinating world of the stories he told, the characters extracted from his vast range of imagination and real life incidents, the painting of hills that he presented in front of our eyes, the visuals of gigantic Himalayan mountains that peeped through his words, the chaotic atmosphere of Indian Railways that formed the background of many of his stories, the colorful flowers that he classified so elegantly, the wide array of trees he differentiated with such ease, the love for food that he described with such passion. But, what’s the story behind the man who has told us so many stories. What prompted a young man to become fascinated with hills, what was the driving force behind the love for reading, what was the inspiration behind the first poem that he wrote, who was the first author that he read……

Lone Fox Dancing captures the ultra-extraordinary journey behind an extraordinary life. The extraordinary life of Ruskin Bond

The book chronicles four phases of his life: Childhood, School Years, Life in England, and finally returning to India and establishing himself as a writer.

We get used to happiness very quickly, more so when we are children

He opens up about his childhood, and yet again, with easily relatable moments (courtesy of all those stories he had told through the years) and simple writing tells us about the kind of immensely close relationship he shared with his father, Alexander Bond. Ruskin starts from the early days in Jamnagar where his Ayah would pamper him, and made him eat paan, which little Ruskin would love wholeheartedly. He also narrates us the inspiration behind his first poem. The childhood trauma to enemas, the isolated time in the boarding school, the fascination with food. The narrative is simple and elegant, and presented with a perfect balance of highs and lows of his childhood.  The earliest attempt on his part towards any form of literature was a direct result of his love towards his Ayah at Jamnagar, the second most important person in Ruskin's life, first obviously being his father. She becomes his inspiration of sorts of his guiltless first attempt at writing poems, he does well, and simply compares her to a papaya. The night held no terror for him, it gradually became his friend, and gave him the much-wanted space he needed but didn't get during the day time. Starlight, Moonlight, early dawn, all became precious moments of loveliness for him. The timelessness like atmosphere of the palace, the sensations of the big garden, the spiral shaped stairs all became a part of the Ruskin’s adventures in Jamnagar.

The most delightful relationship we read about in the book from Ruskin’s life is between him and his father, coincidentally he was named “Ruskin” after the Victorian essayist, John Ruskin, because apparently, Ruskin’s father appreciated aesthetic, imaginative and contemplative life. It appeared to be an omen, what the little Ruskin was going to do in his life. Mr. Bond’s not so stable relationship with his mother, the melancholic state of his mind after his father passed away, discovering friendships, and love. He clearly does not try to sugar coat the kind of cold relationship he shared with his mother and recalls the difficult lonely time he had to face in the absence of his father. What we read is not actually about Ruskin Bond, the author, but rather Ruskin Bond, a child who is lost in his own dreams.

Starts another phase in Ruskin’s life, when he goes to Bishop Cotton school in Shimla, he explores a different side of himself, not the kind of rebel which he tried to pull off in his last school, where he along with a friend tried to run away from the school, and not being able to cross the line of freedom and end up getting caught. As a writer, he would later on use this incident as a metaphor to symbolize seeking freedom and control over one’s own destiny by crossing the lines of oppression. He left a long-lasting impression on his school friends, acknowledging the coolness of the fact that his father worked in the Royal Air Force helped him gain more popularity in the school, a time where World War II was far away from ending, He made his own little world around the aura of the school with his friends. How Ruskin uttered the wonderful line “And when all wars are done, a butterfly will still be beautiful” lying in a tunnel with his friend Azhar.

The marital problems between his parents had gradually started affecting him in some way or another, his father’s loneliness brought a sudden change on the shy Ruskin. The time spent with his father, which he considers to be the happiest days of his childhood because he was not told to live his life in a certain way, he was free bird, he could read all day, listen to music, watch movies, play with his colony friends, get fascinated by his father’s stamp collection. At a certain point when Ruskin is having the best time of his life with his father at Delhi, he mentions that "New Delhi was a safer place in the 1940's than it is in the 21st Century". Few years later, Ruskin’s father passed way due to several attacks of malaria, the last letter which Ruskin's father wrote to him is sure to bring a tear rolling down the cheeks as we read it, primarily because we, as reader by the first part ends have realized the significance of Ruskin's father in his life, and when you read how heartbroken Ruskin is, post the sudden demise of his father, one cannot imagine how a ten-year kid be expected to remain calm. Flight Lieutenant Aubrey Alexander Bond had left an indelible vacuum in the life of Ruskin Bond. It was difficult for Ruskin to reconcile with the loss, and he wrote “There being no tangible evidence of my father’s death, it was, for me, not a death, but vanishing, and I subconsciously expected him to turn as he often did, when I most needed him and deliver me from an unpleasant situation” Years later, Ruskin would confront his feelings from that period in his short story “The Funeral” where he would write about the insensitive nature of adults of not allowing an orphan protagonist to attend his father’s funeral.

If one is present when a loved one dies, one is convinced of the finality of the thing and finds it easier to adapt to the changed circumstances. You never really get over the loss of a beloved. You learn to live despite it.”

He entered another interesting phase in his life soon afterwards, where he would now be a part of a family that appeared to be lost in their own lives, but Ruskin found something that would change his life forever; Books and How an odd friendship with Miss Kellner resulted in Ruskin's introduction to fascinating literature. Reading became his religion, and as he himself mentioned a couple of times that it was books helped him discover his soul. There are sweet little tales of Ruskin's first crush, first sip of rum which lead to his first kiss on the lips under an intoxicated state. The string of happiness which little Ruskin felt after the presence of snow in Dehradun. You could sense a flashback of all those novels which you have read, authored by him connecting all the dots about the beautiful scenery he would put forward about the hills.

Destiny had other plans for “Bond Sahid ka bachcha”, no one back then had any clue that their Baba would go on to become one of the most influential writers in the country.



Destiny took another major turn when Ruskin went to Jersey and then to London to try and achieve his ambition of being a writer, talks of unrequited love, repeatedly telling himself that the west part of the world would give him more opportunities, but as a reader one can feel the restlessness that was building up inside Ruskin, his love for the valleys, and mountains could not be suppressed for a longer time, “All I really wanted was my little room back again” he wrote.

He soon returned to India, and we meet more colorful characters that appeared at that point of time in his life, and most of them would go on to become actual characters in his stories, around the summer of 1963, Ruskin Bond finally settled down in the hills. The last part of the book felt like a revision of all the novels written by him that I have been reading so far, and gradually felt that this is the story behind this man.

The oeuvre of Ruskin Bond’s writing is such, that after reading his work, he makes you feel guilty of not living a life under the watchful eyes of mountains, not taking a moment of solace out of our hectic schedule and appreciating life with all its beauty and charms. There is so much to know about the legendary writer, but the autobiography focuses majorly on his childhood, and how the various incidents shaped the man we know today through his stories. While reading the book, there are overabundance of memories which strikes my mind about all those stories I have read while growing up, there is a sense of reality that Mr. Bond presents, and how he weaves his characters around the nature or how he shapes the nature to be the center of his stories. It is quite an amusing fascination that Mr. Bond, right from his childhood developed towards admiring the beauty of nature, and for me no one loves the nature the way he does through the structure of his words. Similar to numerous Ruskin Bond’s Novels, there are some common elements, mountains, trees, People of colorful nature, animals, foods, drinks, but what is most important is the sincerity and honesty with which Mr. Bond gives us a glimpse of his personal journey. The man who preferred Silence of the mountains against the chaos of metro cities continues to thrives his stories from the simplest of moments in life, perhaps the milieu of Himalayas gives him a sense of freedom to express himself more freely 

The kindest people are often those who have come through testing personal tragedies


Lone Fox Dancing is not a path-breaking autobiography by any means but it never even tries to go that way, it’s as simple as his other works, the subtle difference being the personal moments that are painful and yet delivered through words with honesty, because observing the simplistic of moments in life has always thrive him to form stories. There are moments of longing for love, be it from his father, mother, friends, family, and long after that longing is vanished, there isn’t a bundle of sorrow feelings, rather the joy recalling those moments spent in their presence, perhaps this quality is what makes him grow an unaltered fondness for the beauty of life. 

My rendezvous with Mr. Bond started when I first read “The Blue Umbrella”, once I completed that novella, the name Ruskin Bond stayed with me, as I started exploring his works, the iconic "Room on the Roof", the timeless classic “Time stops at Shamli and other stories”, the quest of freedom in the “Flight of Pigeons”, the wildness of “Sussana’s Seven Husbands”, the realization of a man’s sexual nature in an erotica "The Sensualist"  and many more of his stories, I was transported into the world that Mr. Bond wanted to us see, the silence of the nights, the internal peace felt in a moment, the beauty of rain drops, the aesthetics of trees, the charm of a song, the satisfaction of hearty laugh. The solace I found and still do in reading his works is cannot be judged or even defined precisely.

As a boy, loneliness, As a man, Solitude. The loneliness was not of my seeking. The solitude, I sought and found

I wish that Ruskin Bond had written more about his craft, but this feeling soon vanished after I realize that his most of his stories are directly a result of certain circumstances that he faced in his life, the longing of love, the need of comfort at times, of course there are many stories that completely are a product of his imagination, but the looking back at his journey, and his fondness for the valleys, there is a part of me that wants to believe that most of his stories does have a bit of personal attachment to it.

At around 75 years of age, Mr. Bond made his debut for the big screen in Vishal Bhardwaj’s “7 Khoon Maaf” and played a cameo in the film based on his novella, which he himself adapted into a short story, which was then transformed into a full-fledged screenplay. Just few seconds of seeing him on the big screen with the character that he created so beautifully was really a treat for his fans. 



Once I finished reading the book, I could not help myself but picture a scene in my imagination where Ruskin Bond is talking an evening walk around the trees, simply enjoying the calmness of the valley, and just next to him, we see the little Ruskin from his Jamnagar days emerge out of nowhere, he throws the most innocent of smiles at him and makes him hold his tiny fingers.

“Well, life worked out pretty well” He exclaims to Ruskin

The 83 years old Ruskin looks at him, nods in approval 

“Up for a dance, Lone Fox?” he asks.

"Always" he replies. 

I am like a shopkeeper hoarding bags full of grains, only I hoard words. There are still people who buy words, and I hope I can keep bringing a little sunshine and pleasure into their lives till the end of my days



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