Review: ‘Another Day in Landour: Looking Out from My Window’ by Ruskin Bond

I restarted journaling last week after a gap – a direct result of how much I enjoyed reading Ruskin Bond’s ‘Another Day in Landour : Looking Out From My Window’. This book published by Harper Collins is a compilation from the popular author’s journals over the last couple of years.

Journaling is both a creative and cathartic exercise, and reading another’s journal, especially Ruskin Bond’s, becomes a source of joy and comfort.Ruskin’s meandering thoughts and snippets about everyday life, shared with his trademark wit and humour makes for a very interesting read. The author reflects on varied topics -- the changing seasons, Nature’s bounty, his favourite foods, small physical ailments, a lizard that slides down his shirt, the leaking roof of his bedroom-cum-study, his love of sweet plums and authentic meatballs, his evening Vodka and OJ, and of course his beloved adopted family (the book is dedicated to them).

Here and there you will find Ruskin’s thoughts on the goings-on in the world – a forest fire, the death of the Queen (“Who’s left to remember lost empires?”), nations going to war, the environment and other matters, but these are more or less brushed away with a witty or reflective comment. “Nature does everything to perfection…Only man is an alien. A mixture of brilliance and folly, often leading to tragedy. Now trying to escape to another planet.”

The success of Ruskin Bond’s writing is in its relatability and his direct connect with the reader. His journal is no different – here, in talking to himself, he comes across as a friend, sharing his days and thoughts, allowing a generous peek at the world through his unique perspective, and generally reflecting over the simple beauty of everyday life with warmth, nostalgia and gentle humour. Never for a moment do you feel like an outsider.From his worry about the gout that doesn’t allow him to write without pain, to his delight in nougat and caramel fillings and juicy, sweet plums, a few of which he puts away, but not too many, because “too many plums give you the runs,” to his gentle admonishments regarding our cavalier attitude towards Earth and the environment – you feel it all. Never judgmental, Ruskin is not beyond the occasional grandfatherly rap on the knuckle, and can, on occasion, slide to the caustic, as he does with a fitness enthusiast, a community he sees as ‘fanatical know-alls’.“She gave me up for a gone case and strode off, looking for another victim. She was a skinny woman in her forties, probably envious of all my fat.”Everyone must read Ruskin Bond – young, middle-aged, and certainly the old. To the young, Ruskin imparts a love of the simple things of life and a deep, grounded love of Nature; to the middle-aged, he shows that there is life beyond the hurry and scurry of each day, and to the old, he demonstrates by example how to live a wonderfully happy, contented life as we near our slower years.To those who wonder how they will keep themselves suitably engaged in their old lives, Ruskin’s simple life bolstered by his high thinking and the small window in his room in Ivy Cottage, Landour, can be a source of great inspiration. It is the simple joys of everyday life that keep Ruskin engaged happily. “For an old man who can’t go out very often, the window is his lifeline to the rest of the world. As time goes by, the window increases in importance.

The sky by day, the stars by night: they are always there, constant in their companionship….”Ruskin has built his life around this window, which opens out to the sky and the rest of the world. This is where his inspiration seeps in from, this is where he draws life lessons from. In his adopted family he finds all the love and comfort he could possibly hope for -- they cook and clean for him, give him companionship and take care of him, while the children take him on outings and bring back stories of the outside world to stir his imaginings further, and also introduce him to young tastes.

“Ate a jam paratha for the first time. Recommended by Siddharth and Shrishti. It consists of jam (in this case apricot jam) in a rolled-up paratha. Ugh!”What endears him further to readers is that Ruskin, despite his success and fame, has not assumed any airs, and remains humble and easily approachable to his fans, living in a humble cottage in Mussoorie, struggling up “the most uneven steps in all of Landour. Twenty-two of them, all uneven.

Still, they discourage too many visitors”.This last sentence is so typical of Ruskin and his writing – always finding the positive in every negative, hope before despair. When he talks of how the windows in Delhi lack a view, opening onto neighbours’ walls, even there he finds a positive! “Even a wall can be interesting though. There were cracks in the wall where a lizard had made its home. In the space between the wall and the roof, pigeons had made their nest.

Their gentle cooing was background music to my thoughts.

And during the rainy season, small plants took root in various places, and a dandelion flowered and offered me a wish.”Full of such positive ruminations and celebrating the small pleasures of everyday living, Ruskin Bond’s journal, full of warm reflections, humorous anecdotes, literary allusions and interesting turns of phrase, punctuated by his witty undertone, is a must read for all!“I have slept beside this window since 1980, and I hope to spend a few more days and nights beside it before going into the great unknown. Can a window give you stories and poems and essays and memories over a period of many years? In many ways this one has been at the heart of my writing.”---------------------------------------------------------Book: Another Day in Landour: Looking Out From My WindowAuthor: Ruskin BondPublisher: HarperCollins------------------------------------------------------------------