Ruskin Bond’s ‘Uncles, Aunts & Elephants’ is a wonderful collection of short stories. With
a delightful cover illustration by Archana Sreenivasan and cover design by Aparajita Ninan, this book takes us up to the
cooler hills of India. There are three parts to the book; fiction, non-fiction
and poetry. You can read the book right here.
The first chapter is
set in London and it talks of Ruskin’s adventures with his new flat (or attic)
and only a mouse as his constant visitor. Bond delights us with mousy stories,
in ‘A Little Friend’. Bond gets up to all sorts of adventures with his father
and his grandfather. His animal lover grandpa with a thing for monkeys, owls,
cats and dogs and his grandmother who sounds like a superb cook sounds
like you want to taste every one of her dishes.
Of course, his uncle,
aunt, and scoutmaster are not too far off either in the silly and goofy adventures
that Rusty gets up to. You are never away from the mysteries and dangerous
birds like ostriches and the majestic eagle in these escapades that he cooks
up. 'Escape from Java’, ‘Grandfather’s Many Faces’, ‘Uncle Ken’s Feathered Foes’,
‘Who Monkey Trouble’ and ‘The Parrot Who Wouldn’t Talk’ could leave you in
splits.
In the non-fiction
section, you cannot miss the peacocks, crows, sparrows, pigeons, parrots and
even mynas. But one should not miss the habits of birds such as hoopoes, tree
pies, tailorbirds. I had never heard of them, but they sound fascinating and
leave you with a smile.
‘Bhabhiji’s House’ is
about a wonderful family, who get up to the funniest acts and their antics are
one for the road. Also, do not miss a love story for the tigers, gardens
of ghosts and ways to deal with the evil eye. Of pleasant windows to look at beautiful
sights, of wonderful, flowing handwriting, of delightful books, of weird
neighbours and of hill fairies that are all a part of this section.
‘Garden of Memories’, ‘Reading
Was My Religion’ ‘Respect Your Breakfast’ and ‘The Elephant and the Cassowary
Bird’ make for the non-fiction section, which is not as non-pleasant as it
sounds.
The poems, ‘In a
Strange Soup’ ‘Granny’s Tree-Climbing’ and ‘As a Boy’ are personal favourites. They
are all funny and anecdotal in their telling.
Overall, it is what Ruskin
Bond’s book usually is. Pleasant, funny, and full of tales. I would not say
this is a children’s book because it always would put a smile on anyone’s face.
And the more adult we are, the bigger our smile can be. The baby elephant’s illustration
is only a start to the hullaballoo of stories.
Author: Ruskin Bond
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Puffin Books
ISBN: 978-0-143-33262-6
Price: Rs 299/-
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