Books by Ruskin Bond

Book SynopsisRemember the old road, The steep stony path That took us up from Rajpur, Toiling and sweating And grumbling at the climb, But enjoying it all the same... From Remember the Old Road by Ruskin Bond Sometimes, a journey can be of discovery. And, in this compilation, Ruskin Bond has discovered hair-raising stories of other people''s journeys, taken many many years ago. Bond describes the old track from Rajpur to Mussorie, surrounded by Oak trees and colonial buildings in The Kipling Road''. Braving blizzards and bandits, M. Huc takes a momentous journey toadakh in Journey to the Forbidden City'', while Osa Johnson, the only woman adventurer in the book, gives her awe-inspiring account of cannibals in A Woman Among Cannibals''. Be it travelling for shikar or search for newands or just for survival, this book is packed with action!

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Book Synopsis?The umbrella wasike a flower, a great Blue flower that had sprung up on the dry Brown hillside.'' in exchange for heruckyeopard''s claw pendant, Binya acquires a beautiful Blue umbrella that makes her the envy of everyone in her village, especially Ram Bharata, the shop-keeper. Ruskin Bond''s short and humorous novella, set in the picturesque hills of Garhwal, perfectly capturesife in a village, where both heroism and redemption can be found.

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Book SynopsisIt is very kind of people to invite me to their parties, especially as I do not throw parties myself or invite anyone anywhere. At more than one party I have been known to throw things at people. In spite of thisor maybe because of itI get invited to these affairs. There''s nothingike being able to see the funny side of things inife. Whether it is a belt that decides to get hooked on to another passenger''s bag or monkeys who visit and take refuge in theoo or even the omelettes that don''t turn out exactly the way they were intended, Ruskin Bond brings alive each of these situations with wry humour and a generous dose of wit. Party Time in Mussoorie is as much fun to read as it is to attend any of the weird and wonderful parties Ruskin Bond describes in this collection.

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Book SynopsisIn that dim corner of the cafe was planned the perfect murder. Paul hadong since realized that the affair was not so easy of accomplishment as he had so airily suggested. For the thing must be done without violence, without clues, without trace.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 reader 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.

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Book SynopsisIn the stillness of the air every tree, everyeaf, every bough, every tendril of creeper and every petal of minute blossoms seemed to have been bewitched into an immobility perfect and final. Nothing moved on the river but the eight paddles that rose flashing regularly, dipped together with a single splashSomewhere deep in the jungles, in a boat anchored on aagoon, a manistens to the doomedove story of his friend and his dyingover. In an apple orchard, a philosopher tries hard to decipher the codes ofove,ittle realizing that he is ruining his own chances. With stories from writersike O. Henry, Joseph Conrad, Guy de Maupassant, Anton Chekov and others, this collection brings alive the many shades ofove, from the heartbreaking to the joyous.

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Book SynopsisOnce upon a time, there was a Raja who owned a parrot and its name was Hiramantota.Delving into stories from folklore, epics andegends, Ruskin Bond brings toife a cast of fantastic and extraordinary characters. From the wise parrot Hiramantota who brings the fruit of immortality to the king but suffers grievously for it, to the Green Man of Sinai, who now haunts the desert of Sinai; from the boy wonder Jivaka who can solve all sorts of problems, to Sindbad the sailor, who has magical adventures on his voyages, these stories are as exciting as they are unforgettable.Retold here by Ruskin Bond with his characteristic wit, The Wise Parrot is a treasure trove of tales that is sure to delight and entertain a new generation of readers.

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Book SynopsisThere was a clumsy flapping of wings, a tremendous swelling of the bird''s wattle and an undignified getting up, as if it were a floored boxer doing his best to beat the count of ten.Two mismatched animals meet and the result is a hilarious tale of how one got the better of the other. A photographer takes pictures of animals in the wild and writes about the hidden and mysterious world of the jungle. A tiger, used to its habitat, has to keep running from the humans who take up his home, till he has no more place for escape.Filled with descriptions of animals both in the wild and at home, of jungles and of the people who wander the forests in search of animals, this collection contains stories that are exhilarating and thought-provoking.

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Book SynopsisHer eyes seemed flecked with gold when the sun was on them. And as the sun set over the mountains, drawing a deep red wound across the sky, there was more than gold in Kiran''s eyes. There was anger''Who does not enjoy short stories that are pithy, compelling and gripping? In this collection, Ruskin Bond selects some of the best short stories for his readers. There is O. Henry''s classic story about hunting in the great outdoors; Guy de Maupassant''s Gothic horror classic about a severed hand with a mind of its own; Edgar Allan Poe''s tale about a heart that doesn''t seem to stop beating; and stories by H.G. Wells, Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Dickens and by Ruskin Bond himself.Always entertaining and completely unputdownable, the stories in Eyes of the Cat will keep readers riveted till the veryast page.

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Book SynopsisA tall, stooping, elderly gentleman sat down beside me. I gave him a quick glance, noting his swarthy features, heavy moustache and horn-rimmed spectacles. There was something familiar and disturbing about his face and I couldn''t resistooking at him again.I noticed that he was smiling at me. The Man Who Was Kipling is a collection of stories which should be on the must-readist of every reader. We are introduced to a man in a museum inondon who claims to be the ghost of Rudyard Kipling. Then there is a schoolboy''s encounter with a mysterious woman, while waiting for their trains to arrive. We have an inspector pitting his wits against a murder mystery and a writer who always takes the same route into the city to catch a glimpse of a balcony belonging to a pastove. And then there is the timeless classic Sita and the River'' that will tug at your heartstrings. Through this collection, Ruskin Bond has us enthralled, yet again, with his effortless storytelling of these tales and more.

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Book SynopsisA boy with no face seen weeping in the forest. Watchman mimics, revealing he too has no features. Collection of terrifying ghost stories including haunted manor, doomed couple, vengeful spirit, and eerie woods. Prepare to be spooked by the wild elements of the night.

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Book SynopsisSick was she on Thursday,Dead was she on Friday,Glad was Tom on Saturday nightTo bury his wife on Sunday.Loved for the evocative power of his short fiction, Ruskin Bond is well-known for his riveting stories. Told in his distinctive style, this is an eclectic collection of fourteen storiesfrom humour and horror to warm and soul-stirring. Classics such as Aong Walk for Bina'' and Grandfather''s Earthquake'' rub shoulders with tales of Fosterganj whereizards are chased to prepare magic oil, while spooks and haunted mansions give you goosebumps!Few writers can create as compelling stories and conjure up as eccentric characters, as Ruskin Bond can. When the Clock Strikes Thirteen is storytelling at its effortless best.

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Book SynopsisAlthough the India of Kim is no more and the Grand Trunk Road is now a procession of trucks instead of a slow-moving caravan of horses and camels, India is still a country in which people are easilyost and quickly forgotten.''Did you know that Delhi was half its present size in the 1940s and 50s? Can you imagine a Dehradun withush greenery, with hardly any commercial places? Do you remember steam engines or have you ever sat in a train pulled by one?This book takes you back in time as Ruskin Bond relives his memories in timeless classicsike Summertime in Old Delhi'', Bhabiji''s House'','' My Father''s Trees in Dehra'', creating as only he can, vignettes imbued with nostalgia. Add to these the punch of storiesike A Station for Scandal'', the thrill of Picnic at Fox-Burn'' and the surprise twist of The Eyes have It''and you have a story for every mood!This collection of seventeen stories showcases Bond at his story-telling best.

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Book SynopsisAs theight came on, I saw the cat standing at the foot of the bed, tail erect and hair on end. It was very angry. And thenits appearance changed and its head was that of a humana woman, black-browed with flaring nostrils andarge crooked ears, herips full and drenched with bloodmy blood!This is a collection of some of Ruskin Bond''s most pithy short stories ranging from eerie suspense to touching empathy. There''s a bloodthirsty cat in a colonial rest house; an uncle who carries a vial of deadly arsenic with him; a mysterious woman whose seven husbands have disappeared one after another; and the touching tales of animals in the wilderness and theironely struggle for survival against humans.Captivating and addictive, The Chakrata Cat will keep you enthralled till the end.

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Book SynopsisAbout ten yards in front of him, crawling along the floor, was a man''s hand. Eustace stared at it in utter amazement. It was moving quickly in the manner of a geometer caterpillar, the fingers humped up one moment, flattened out the next; the thumb appeared to give a crablike motion all the while. While he wasooking, too surprised to stir, the hand disappeared round the corner.''Terrorurks where youeast expect it!This is a collection of hair-raising horror stories that are bound to make your flesh creep, written by the undisputed masters of the genre. Selected and compiled by Ruskin Bond, these are stories by Rudyard Kipling, W.F. Harvey, Marjorie Bowen and Thomas Burke, among others.From a ghostly animated hand and the walking dead to haunted cemeteries and dressing tablesthese tales will send a chill down your spine. Featuring phantoms, beasts and monsters, The Beast with Five Fingers makes for the perfect read when the moon is up!

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Book SynopsisThe Daffodil Case brings together the best of Ruskin Bond''s fiction and non-fiction. From the thoroughly delightful Dinner with Foster'' and Who Kissed Me in the Dark'' to spooky talesike A Fright in the Night'' and Wilson''s Bridge'', and classicsike Death of a Familiar'', Voting at Barlowganj'' and My Father''s Trees in Dehra''this volume is a selection of some of Bond''s best works. One of India''s most prolific writers, Ruskin Bond creates a charming portrait of the quiet, unhurriedife for his readers with this collection.

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Book SynopsisWhen you relax in your small verandah or on a garden seat, take this book with you and open it at any page. You will be well rewarded. For, as the old proverb goes, 'There is money to be made in the market-place, but under the cherry tree there is rest . . .'

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Book SynopsisA corpse smiling at you in the middle of the night is not the most pleasant of experiences. It is calculated to give you goosebumps. And when the smile becomes an evil grimace, it is time to say your prayers. But there was no time for prayer. The smile widened even further, and This is a collection of hair-raising horror and adventure stories written by undisputed masters of the genre. Selected and compiled by Ruskin Bond, these are stories by F.W. Champion, W.F. Harvey, Maurice Hewlett, John Eyton, and many others. From beasts in the form of human hands to explorersost in the wilderness, to rising dead bodies and the kidnapping of aittle girl by a fairy these tales will thrill youike no other. So, dive under the covers and take the Fright or Flight challenge.

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Book SynopsisSomewhere inife There must be someone To take your hand And share the torrid day. Without the touch ofove There is noife and we must fade away.''ove is not only romantic, it can have many shadestwo friends reconnecting after years; aonely, young man in a foreign city with a new-found friend and his extended family; a schoolboy befriended by an affectionate stranger while waiting alone at a railway platform; a beautiful village girl whose charms a city boy can''t resist; two strangers who strike up a conversation on a train journey... Written in a simple but poignant style, A Bouquet ofove is about romance and friendships, bondings developed out of shared experiences or sometimes simply happenstance! Featuring timeless classics such as The Eyes Have It'', Time Stops at Shamli'', Binya Passes By'', Love Is a Sad Song'' and many others, this is a collection of Ruskin Bond''s novellas and short stories that explores the infinite spectrum ofove with great sensitivity.

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Book SynopsisThe 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.. œA dragon! I shouted. œThere''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 mysteriousives 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.

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Book SynopsisThere is an inexplicable pull that we feel towards stories about horror and mystery. The fear of the unknown, coupled with the thirst to know the truth'', keeps us turning page after page. This is a collection of mysterious horror stories that will make you hold your breath at every turn and gasp with shock at every twist. From a duel gone horribly wrong, and aodger who conducts mysterious experiments in the dead of night; to a fiendish cat who is out for revenge, and a waxwork that eerily seems alivethese tales will make your hair stand on end. Written by the masters of the genre and selected and compiled by Ruskin Bond, here are gems from Wilkie Collins, Arthur Conan Doyle, Bram Stoker and Rudyard Kipling, among others. Dare to read The Duel when you are home alone?

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Book SynopsisThis collection by Ruskin Bond has stories that are mostly autobiographical, based on the themeof nature. In these heart-warming stories, Bond talks of the various elements of nature as if theyare members of his family. He also endows the flora and fauna that he encounters with distinctpersonalities, and himself recedes into the background as a silent observer.From the mountains to the trees, from the birds that fly to his cottage, bringing a whiff of thefaraway forests they come from, to the winding paths that lead to charming gardens, Petals on theGanga will take you to nooks and corners, opening up scenes of myriad beauty.

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Book SynopsisIn this rib-tickling anthology, Ruskin Bond brings together funny stories, humourous articles and comic verse. These hilarious encountersfrom a lunatic who escapes the asylum to watch a cricket match to a goat that goes berserk in a posh drawing roomwritten by renowned humourists such as Stephen Leacock, Jerome K. Jerome, C.A. Kincaid and, of course, Ruskin Bond himself, are guaranteed to make you smile, chuckle, snort, giggle and laugh out loud!

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Book SynopsisGranny loves climbing trees but is now old. Concerns arise about her safety and ability to come back down. In a humorous poem by Ruskin Bond, a young boy shares Granny's tree-climbing adventures. The book offers a heartwarming solution to Granny's passion, accompanied by lovely illustrations.

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Book SynopsisShe was there every morning, chasing butterflies, stalking squirrels and mynahs, her voice brimming withaughter, her slight figure flitting about between the trees.'' Childhood memories are cherished by everybody. They are a reminder of a simpler time, a time when we easily appreciated the mundane, when excitement and joy were aplenty and whenittle caused us worry or even fear. Every experience of childhood is unique and special and only as adults do we realize howittle weet come in our way to fully enjoyingife in those days of unbothered pleasure. In And Girls Will Be Girls, Ruskin Bond anthologizes short stories and personal essays that speak to this unbridled delight. Whether it was a cricket match that changed aife, or an umbrella that became a friend, or nostalgia over oldovethis book has something for everybody!

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Book SynopsisI needed a friend but it was not easy to find one among a horde of rowdy, pea-shooting fourth formers, who carved their names on desks and stuck chewing gum on the class teacher''s chair. Had I grown up with other children, I might have developed a taste for schoolboy anarchy; but, in sharing my father''soneliness after his separation from my mother, I had turned into a premature adult.'' There is no telling where friendships might be made and how. Friends of My Youth is a collection of short stories by Ruskin Bond on howittle and almost seemingly insignificant incidents ofife canead us to the person in whom we may find a companion, a comrade. These are the stories of how unknowingly, at times, friends are found and how they help eliminate ouroneliness or become partners in crime in our personal missions. Narrated with utter simplicity, the tales make for a delightful remembrance of the friends made in the early years ofife.

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Book Synopsis''Samuel was a snail of some individuality. Some considered him to be the bad snail in the family, but that was because he did not listen to his elders and liked to do things on his own... Birds and butterflies recognized no man-made borders, so why should snails?'' If there is one thing that never gets old or boring or repetitive, it is stories that detail the shenanigans of animals. Often extremely entertaining, animals act in certain ways that are intriguing, wondrous and fascinating. In All Creatures Great and Small, Ruskin Bond brings us stories and personal essays that speak to this animal-human equation. He takes us into the world of ambitious snails, conniving eagles, monkeys that love hot baths, humans who befriend them and many other exciting tales!

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Book SynopsisAs a writer, I have difficulty in doing justice to momentous events, the wars of nations, the politics of power; I am more at ease with the dew of the morning, the sensuous delights of the day, the silent blessings of the night, the joys and sorrows of children, the strivings of ordinary folk and, of course, the ridiculous situations in which we sometimes find ourselves.' We often view the daily happenings around us as ignorable; as things that aren't really worthy of being remembered, cherished or recorded. Little do we realize that these days make us who we are, becoming important milestones in our lives where we form eternal bonds, branch out of our comfort zones, experience our first heartbreaks, dream big dreams as well as get struck by failures. It is these ordinary days that contain things, people and moments, that are perhaps, the most magical entities in our lives. In Adventures in Reading, Ruskin Bond weaves together personal memories and his turbulent yet uplifting journey as a writer. His own experiences as well as the diverse characters in his tales teach us not just various lessons on human nature and relationships, but also to make the most of our daily lives.

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Book SynopsisGranny was a genius. You''dike to know why? Because she could climb trees. Spreading or high She''d be up their branches in a trice. And mind you Whenast she climbed a tree, she was sixty-two.'' You ask anybody who their favourite member of the family is, and their answer will be one of their grandparents. A grandparent''s capacity forove, the abundance of affection that they hold and share with abandon, make them the purest and the best people to be with. What is more, they entertain you with stories of a time past and sometimes, if we areucky, they partake in crazy activities with us as witnesses. In Granny''s Tales, Ruskin Bond takes us through such stories of affection and tenderness, of grandpas being hilariousfighting ostriches, building zoos in his backyard and tickling tigers. And the wonder that grandmas aretelling bedtime stories with flourish, witnessing us climbing trees for afternoon hilarity and teachingessons that will help us in all. This book is the perfect dose of grandparent stories, for children and adults alike!

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Book SynopsisI''ve come to see you,'' she said. For aong,ong time, I hope.'' And I took her by the hand anded her into my home, my garden of books. And that was how Kiran came into myife. [] If you meet her, she will tell you about the garden of dreamsperhaps she will take you there some day, for she is a girl who can make dreams come true. In a world that treasures being realistic'' more than daydreaming, we sometimes forget that the only way to aim higher is to daydream aittlehow do we have ambition without aittle hope? It is at timesike this when we should remember the desires of your youth. How we dreamed bigger than we could afford to; how weeapt and then thought of the fall. In Garden of Dreams, Ruskin Bond brings together stories and personal essays that talk of such youthful exuberance. He talks ofove and its effect on a tired soul; of friends that become your anchors through stormy days, of romance kindled over chocolates; and many such tales that rekindle our zest forife. This book is for all those who dare to be aittle naÃve in this sombre world.

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Book SynopsisThis book contains a careful selection of excerpts from some of Ruskin Bond's favourite classics ranging from Christina Rossetti's 'Who Has Seen the Wind' and Robert Louis Stevenson's 'From a Railway Carriage' to Jonathan Swift's 'Lilliput and Its Laws' and Arthur Conan Doyle's 'The Mystery of the Test Papers',

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Book SynopsisRuskin 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.

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