every word written by the bond touches the soul.
I am not exaggerating when I say that Ruskin Bond is my favorite human of all humans on earth. He has made me cry and he has also been there with me while I cry especially in the pandemic. He has made me feel optimistic about my life. He has instilled in me the profound love for nature that he has. Reading any of his books feels like he is loving me, hugging me and trying to soothe me from whatever discomfort I have and in return I love and respect him.
Recently I read ‘A Book of Simple Living– Brief notes from the Hills’ which is a compilation of the journal entries of Ruskin Bond in his old age. This book successfully touched all parts of my hearts and taught me a lot about life! Here are a few lines from the book and what they have taught me. I Hope you take something back from it.
“This much I can tell you: for all its hardships and complications, life is simple. And a nature that doesn’t sue for happiness often receives it in a larger measure.”
This is from the introduction of the book and it has been my smart phone wallpaper for as long as I can remember. We are always so caught up with all the events in our life that we forget about happiness. And suddenly when happiness comes to mind, we will do everything possible in the world (including harming others) to gain it. We do it unknowingly of course but we do it. I’ve seen myself hurt others to find happiness inside me. And here Ruskin bond says- if we try not to hurt others for our own good, we will be so much happier, so much jollier than before and then living life is not going to be as complicated as we thought it would be.
“Wherever I went the stars were there to keep me company, And I knew that as long as long as I responded, in both physical and mystical way, to the natural world- sea, sun, earth, moon and stars- I would never feel lonely upon this planet”
Here’s a solution to loneliness in less than 50 words. A solution, all humanity has been looking for since more than 500 years. If you have read any of Ruskin bond’s writing, you’ll know how much he absolutely loves nature. Here he is saying that the nature is his company and a very good company when he feels alone and as long as he keeps the conversation with the sun, the moon and the stars alive, he will never feel alone. There’s no other author who can make you feel like that, who can make you love your surroundings so much, so easily and so fast.
to love or not to love?
“We must love someone.
We must keep loving, all our days
Someone, anyone, anywhere
Outside of ourselves;
….
….
Without the touch of love
There is no life, and we must fade away.”
With this poem Ruskin Bond says that a life which is lead without loving anybody is not a life and it must fade away. It has happened so many times that I’ve shown my love to others around me and all I’ve got in return is mere misery. I’ve had failed friendships and relationships. I’ve wished that I never loved that I never opened my heart for anyone else. But here, he says we must love and that its good to have loved others outside of myself and I believe him, I trust him and I think I must love more so that I don’t fade away.
“It’s the simple things in life that keeps us from going crazy. They contribute more to our general happiness and health than acts of passion and high excitement.”
I have an extreme amount of FOMO every time I hear some of my friends are getting together and I cant go because my parents are strict. And in those times, I take care of my plants, I read a poem, I make some art or cook something delicious. Doing these little things keeps me sane, keeps me from going crazy and making a scene at home. When I read these lines from Ruskin bond I realized I’m not the only one. And trust me “I’m not the only one” is the most beautiful feeling in the world. Bond reassures me that passion is what keeps us all most grounded and happy.
some hope in the pandemic
“When all the wars are done, a butterfly will still be beautiful”
Since the year 2020 we all have experienced the pandemic in some or the other extreme way and truly speaking it was almost like a war either with our own selves or with our surroundings. But reading these lines made me believe that there might be a new normal but what was beautiful for us before the pandemic will still remain beautiful and it’s those beautiful things which keeps us normal. And so, we need not worry. Whenever this war will be over, things will have changed, but the beautiful things will remain beautiful.
“It seems to me that most people are scared of solitude, for almost everything is carried out on a crowded scale.”
In the pandemic, almost all of us have had to experience solitude, many of us went crazy because of it and many of us enjoyed it. Most of us disliked it because we had to pause our lives and look at the real world for the first time in years. We generally don’t pause; we surround ourselves with other people and things so that we don’t have to deal with what is real, we are scared of reality, scared of solitude. He has always been a lover of solitude and that is probably why he is one of the greatest writers of today, he looks at reality closely and with precision.
This brings us to the end.
I could go on and on about how The Bond is the best author and writer ever, how he has changed the way I think and look at the world but then I’ll end up writing about how each and every sentence of book made me feel and its going to end up being longer than the book itself!
Read some more quotes here: to brighten up your day, about love and happiness and to inspire yourself!
I hope you liked my interpretations of solitude, love, loneliness and togetherness. If I missed something here please let me know! You can reach out to me by the comments or Instagram!
Also, don’t forget to give me your feedback at the end of the page.
Ruskin Bond is evergreen ❤
he really is