Rusty and Me

Rusty's house Ivy Cottage is part of the white building at the end of the road.


30th August 2014 will always be a very special day for me because that is when I not just met but also spend a good amount of time with Rusty- my favorite writer. The world knows him as Ruskin Bond but to me he is Rusty, Rusty who knows how to make magic with words.

The sunny afternoon of 30th August 2014 had suddenly turned cloudy. I anxiously looked up at the sky and prayed for the weather not to get worse. Already it was past 3 pm and I along with many others, was eagerly waiting outside Cambridge Book Shop in Mussorrie to meet Ruskin Bond who visits this bookshop every Saturday, if he is in town.

Suddenly the clouds drifted and the sun was out again. And almost simultaneously, a shining red car stopped right in front of the bookshop and out stepped Ruskin Bond- the favourite author of me and many children like me.

There are some writers whose writings we love to read, but we never think it is possible to meet them because they somehow seem to belong to a different world. Ruskin Bond is one such writer for me.

Ever since we shifted to Dehradun a few months ago, it has been my dream to meet Ruskin Bond. We have even driven all the way up to his house, Ivy Cottage in Landour near Mussorrie.  I was happily surprised to discover that almost everyone in town, knew him and provided us detailed directions. However on that day, we were unable to meet him as he was unwell and hence unable to meet anyone.

Ruskin Bond entered the Cambridge Book Shop and soon he was thronged by a crowd of autograph seekers- young boys and girls standing in a line with just-bought books of the writer. They were all eager to capture their moment of fame with a famous writer. 

A little later, after the crowd had thinned, I got a chance to talk to Ruskin Bond. When I asked him about the origin of my favourite character Rusty, an Anglo-Indian boy growing up in pre-independence era in Dehra Dun, the elderly writer smiled and softly said that he created the character of Rusty to spin stories about his own past. As I learnt that Rusty's adventures are actually Ruskin's own, I asked him if he would mind if I henceforth addressed him as “Rusty”.  He happily nodded.  

"Rusty’s life is all about making friends," he said. "Rusty is very sensitive and at times lonely. He puts all his faith in friendship and his friends never let him down". 

In one of stories, he has written about being a witness to his step father’s disappearance down a well when he was a small boy. I asked him about that Rusty gently smiled, saying that it was just a story and nothing more than that.

I also told him of having read his famous story ‘A Face in the dark’ and mentioned how I am quite fearful of walking alone in the dark, lest I bump into the faceless one, hearing which Rusty burst into a hearty laughter .

As our conversation winded up, I reluctantly bid Rusty goodbye when he brightened up the moment by inviting me to his house in Landour. Now I am just waiting for my mother to take me there.