We all have been mesmerised by the books which we all must have read during our childhood days. But for me, among all of them the most prominent or memorable one has been from Ruskin Bond. He has been able to impress us as well as make our beginning years of school an entertaining one. The best thing has been the simplicity with which he is able to present the thoughts or stories or imaginations in front of us in the form of words. Let’s have a look at the review of one of his brilliant creations called Room on the Roof.
This book is a story of an orphaned boy whose name is Rusty, who is half- Indian, and who is completely alone with no blood relations present around him for care. Most of the time he is very sad and always feels alone in spite of the fact that he has a guardian named Mr. John Harrison. He is in a very confused state of mind because at a stage of life where he doesn’t know whom to follow for inspiration in his life. The only thing which he always tries to do is, he always makes sure that he follows the orders of his guardian. This is because he has the fear of being kicked out of the house. But due to not having any real friends, his life has become difficult.
The only thing which can give some comfort to Rusty is the option of being allowed to go to the market and explore a bit. But John doesn’t allow him to go to the market. This is due to the fact that John thinks Indians are dirty and bad mannered. This is because of the reason that this story is written just after India became independent, so there can be thought in John’s mind that he is in a mindset of still being in charge of the Indians.
But one day, Rusty gets a chance. A chance to explore the world. On that day, his guardian was in Delhi, away from home. He was in a very difficult situation also. This is because his mind was saying to him that he should drop the idea of going out because he can get into trouble. But his heart was compelling him to go out and explore because he was not required to follow the orders all the time. He was well capable of living his life on his own terms. At last, he follows his heart and goes to the market.
He is now enjoying his choice. But there is still a lack of hope in his life and a bit of hesitation in his nature. Then suddenly he meets a boy named Somi. They become good friends and Somi’s friends also become his friends. Now, Rusty becomes confident. Somi and his friend Ranbir are very kind to him and treat him very well. Now, after some time he decides to return back to his home. But finds out that his guardian has returned and gets punished because of his decision to go out. Another day he again decides and goes out to play Holi with Somi and Ranbir. But he again gets punished. So finally, he decides to leave his house and become independent. So, he goes to Somi, who supports and helps him a lot. He also finds a job to teach English to a boy named Kishan, in return he also gets a roof to live on and food to eat. He slowly starts to enjoy his life. He becomes independent and also gets a loving and caring family. He also finds his first love in the form of Kishan’s mother Meena. Days pass by and he is comfortable in his current life. But slowly he loses all of his family and support. He again becomes alone and life becomes again very difficult for him. So, he decides to return back to England. But he gets in touch with Kishan and he convinces Rusty to change his mind about going to England. After that they start living their own life independently without any pressure and tension.
Lesson for me from this story and the reasons for choosing this book to read
This book was written by Ruskin Bond when he was seventeen. So, he tends to depict the state of mind of his own to some extent. He tries to show the mentality which a boy of his age can have, to some extent.
He has presented the story in a very beautiful way and has tried to show the emotions that can cloud the mind of a young boy. He also tries to show the racist nature of a few people living at that time. On the other hand, he also shows the positive and good nature of a few people who try to make the life of a young hesitant boy better. They try to do so by making him independent and confident.
He demonstrated a perfect example of a story having a mix of several kinds of emotions. He also tries to give us a lesson that we should try to be more friendly and good natured in a place where we live. We should also try to learn the way people of a city or country live their lives and should try to learn a bit about their culture and lifestyle. We should try to keep our mind open to the changes of the environment around us and should try to keep ourselves motivated in a difficult situation and should never hesitate while asking for help in a bad situation.
Worth reading and having known the past state happening.