Here’s wishing everyone a happy, happy World Book Day! What’s a world without books? 😀 And what’s better a way to celebrate World Book Day than to talk about love and a very loved author called Ruskin Bond?
Ruskin Bond needs no introduction. His works are famous for their simplicity as well as the detailing they carry, making the author a pleasant paradox. When he describes Nature, it resonates in your imagination. For example, when he describe the water gushing through, I could actually hear it. Maybe it was because I was imagining it that I also thought of the sound. Nevertheless, that is the power that he holds.
What we usually think when we think Ruskin Bond is that his books are appropriate for children. But there is a difference. The books that he writes for children can be read by everyone. The books he writes for adults, the books on love and romance, like Falling in Love Again must be kept out of the reach of kids. I’ll soon explain why.
Falling in Love Again is a collection of short stories that involve Ruskin Bond’s emotion of love. They include stories that I have read earlier as part of his other collections. But they find a home in this one and then you think of how well they fit in here. The stories include The Eyes Have It and Susanna’s Seven Husbands. The latter is one story that I was hoping to read. But now, after reading it, I find it admirable, the way Vishal Bhardwaj turned such a simple story into such a stunning one, both visually and story-wise. The movie he made is called Saat Khoon Maaf and stars Priyanka Chopra as Susanna.
The point of Falling in Love Again is to show how love in its myriad forms can always come back to the same point: going through with the promises you made in the throes of the emotion. I’d known that Ruskin Bond’s portrayal of love and the longing that comes with it was sweet, but it is with this book that I finally see the sensuality that he can put into words. Actually, it’s not just me seeing it. There are sensual descriptions in there, but none of them are cringe-worthy.
And that is the genius called Ruskin Bond.
Falling in Love Again also contains a couple of excerpts from Ruskin Bond’s other works, like A Room on the Roof. Though I’ve read those stories before, it is with absolute glee that I read them again. After all, who’d say no to repeated servings of genius? And when served with a HUGE dollop of realism, no one’s going anywhere, no matter what!
None of the stories in Falling in Love Again feature ‘tall, dark, handsome’ men or the type of beauties described in other romance novels. Some of the stories are parts of Ruskin Bond’s life. And it is there that you can see the rawness of the emotions.
All the stories are about people like you and me, everyday people who happen to stumble upon that exalted feeling called love. Yet, they are more romantic than other vividly described romance novels of these days. There is angst, there is joy, there is anticipation, there is heartbreak – everything, in a nutshell.
As like all of his books, Falling in Love Again is easy to read, be it story-wise or language-wise. Despite this, or because of this, the stories give you a lesson in how to take life with a teaspoon of lemon juice. They are realistic and beautiful, and if you are looking for something to engage you without having to use your conscious much, this is the book for you!
Rating: 4/5 stars
Until next time, keep reading, and add melodrama to your life. 🙂
The Melodramatic Bookworm 