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The Rediff Special

Ruskin strengthens bond with Hindi readers

After the great success of Ek Tha Rusty, translated into Hindi by the National Book Trust, Hindi readers can now get a deeper insight into the literary world of renowned English author Ruskin Bond through Raat ke Ajnabi,an impressive Hindi translation of Strangers in the Night.

Consisting of two novellas, Raat ke Ajnabi is unique as it is very different from the children stories written prolifically by Bond. The two novellas titled Mutthibhar Badaam (A Handful of Nuts) and Kaami Purush (The Sensualist: A Cautionary Tale) describe an adolescent's journey into adulthood and maturity.

Translated by Prabhat Kumar Singh of the English department of the Magadha University (Gaya), the novellas retain the pure and simple literary style of Bond which has been a dominant factor in his rise to international popularity as an author.

Dedicated by Bond to his 'absent friends', the novellas share a special nostalgia with which Bond readers are only too familiar. Some of the incidents are real and others ''creatures of my imagination'', says Bond in the introduction to the book.

Mutthibhar Badaam is a self-portrait of the author as a sensitive and occasionally mischievous youth. Written in 1995, the story captures a longing on the part of an elderly writer for the hot languorous summer days of his youth.

Both novellas are set in the Dehra Dun of the fifties and bring back vivid memories to readers who have seen the valley during those years. Rajpur road, Astley Hall, Orient cinema and several other landmarks of the valley figure prominently in the stories and a rich feel of romance grips the reader as a beautiful picture of Dehra unfolds before his eyes.

Prabhat Kumar Singh has succeeded in capturing much of the original Bond magic as he has done a lot of research on the author earlier. His book, The Creative Contours of Ruskin Bond,has the distinction of being the first collection of critical essays on Bond to have been brought out in the world.

The Sensualist ( Kaami Purush) was written some 24 years ago and first appeared in Debonair magazine in which it was serialised. Bond faced an obscenity charge due to this during the Emergency but was honourably acquitted. It was then included by Penguin India a few years ago in its Bond omnibus volume.

It is indeed interesting that works which are not typically Bond have been translated into Hindi. A new and complex face of this famous author has been revealed to readers which gives them an insight into the depths of the writer's consciousness.

UNI

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