Greetings:-

So we are back from an enchanting experience.And really still it is very difficu

lt to believe for me,for it appears as a dream still, that really really I have
met the resident writer and poet of the foothills of Himalayas,the real Bond-Rus
kin Bond.Before I share this experience briefly,I cannot escape the mention of t
he pains taken by Pankaj sir starting from contacting ,to making reservation and
finding the routes and a lot more.Even Vina ji(wife of Rakesh ji,son of Prem ji
whose family Bond ji had adopted) asked us who among us is 'Pankaj' and was a
bit disappointed, not finding the guy who has talked so enthusiastically and pol
itely on phone.Then there were guidance by Saurabh sir,Ravi sir,Vinay sir,Ramesh
sir ,Sandip sir and wishes of all the Sarjana vitaan and Sarjana members which
were among the essential parts to make this journey a great success.Among the Sa
rjana members,there are girls who could not accompany us for the journey but the
y have taken immense pains to prepare questions,collect details about Bond ji an
d much more.Kudos to the efforts of Anuradha,deepshikha and Monisha.And then the
re are guys who have laboured hard to get the tickets-Dayanand,Pankaj and Virend
ra,Shailendra;buying the books-Ayush.Special thanks to Raj sir for he had to tak
e a great risky chance by taking leave from a newly joined company and accompany
us and providing guardianship for this entire journey.Aditya deserves a mention
for his obedient and considerably helpful conduct during this mission.This trip
was sponsored by Satyan sir and Raj sir.
We started keeping a fair margin of time on each probable delay point,thus board
ing the morining train of 8:30 from Sindri to Dhanbad on 7th of this month.From
Asansol we boarded the superfast train Kumbh express,which headed towards the no
rth-west with its full vigour.We passessed through the Gangetic plains with the
ripe corns and wheat fields.The topography had occassional slopes,mounds and tun
nels through which our train passed.Well,the train ought to be called superfast
for we reached Haridwar an hour ahead of time,so we decided to board the bus and
get to dehradun at the earliest.We had an immense protection of wishes of our l
oved ones,for we were supported by an incredible amount of luck in each of our e
ndeavours, from getting the bus at the right time with the right fares,company o
f hospitable disciples of Bharat sevasram Sangha during the journey,moreover we
got a decent room with bed for three in the bus terminus guest house just for Rs
300, whereas all the average hotels were charging something between Rs 900 to R
s 1200.We talked to Bond ji on phone ,and a humble voice first inquired where ar
e we staying and whether we have got a proper accomodation or not.The following
morning was full of excitement.We had enough time margin with us to go for the m
ost econimical means to reach mussoorie,thus we boarded a bus which swirled arou
nd the twisted breathtaking paths around the foothill of himalayas-the gharawal
hills.There were enormous numbers of such hairpin tunrns and these forced the dr
iver to be fully dependent on his reflexes and experience,for visibility was far
away from sufficient to be relied upon.There were lines of deciduous oaks follo
wed lush green belt of evergreen deodar and rhododendrons.And this change of veg
etation was to be accompanied by a chilly weather.The rays of sun peeping throug
h the window glass of the bus were giving warm comfort.
The Landour cantonment(one regular resident of dehradun would even hardly recogn
ize the name till he has been to mussoorie for its familirity is excitingly less
than even what it appears from here) was reached with the help of a local taxi
through highly sloped,wonderously twisted high and thin lanes.But there Rusking
Bond's house is really a much familiar and excellently popular entity.After taki
ng our breakfast in one of those old (about 150 years) restaurants -the ivy cott
age, we knocked at Bond's house without delay.The Bond's house is a 200 year ol
d structure,previously perhaps a part of the cantonment over there.We were greet
ed warmly and with great enthusiasm.Firstly we were asked about our arrival,the
halt and the breakfast,whether we had had or not.We mentioned that we had had ou
r breakfast,our stay was comfortable and the only hospitality which we crave for
is his blessings and kind sharing of his experinces-the thing for which we have
come across this distance.This eased him a lot,humble as he is,he apologised no
t to entertain us with proper arrangements or offer anything as most of the memb
ers of his family are away for the time being.The drawing room is a small one wi
th nothing more than just the essentials in the name of furniture but with an ai
r of the comforts of British India.And he mentioned that he had thought that a l
arge team would be coming so he was a bit worried.Raj sir eased him more by sitt
ing on the matress of the floor and proving we are just in need of his blessings
in form gist of his experinces.He was much happy to discover that we had journe
y of two days ,coming from far away land of Jharkhand .He asked what more places
we desire to see there.Our reply was that our sole purpose is to seek his sugge
stions and ideas ,we had no other assignments for travels or tour,we had reserva
tions for our return on the very day.He was much pleased by the statement,for he
mentioned that earlier only book lovers used to come to see him,but now a days
tourists come,and he is much reluctant to meet such tourists.Earlier writers wer
e just 'names' and nobody would bother to even recognize their faces,but now a d
ays they have become faces and fans,they cannot ignore someone with desire to se
e him.He talked about his family background,his school days,his childhood and mu
ch more.With excitement he showed us his library of books,his writing desk, a po
orly furnished one with just a table, a chair and some papers and pen.He pushed
open the window pane to show us how he get occasional views of the mountains thr
ough his window,and it was a windy day, so he closed it instantly, with words of
apology.Bond ji is man with no much hair, a round figure,age of 77.A serious f
ace yet amazing sense of humour,keeping always the funny side up.A man with such
a great experince yet such humble persnality that we were amazed.Inspite of his
mentioning it's his time to rest,he continued and we listend with utmost care a
nd tresspassed upon atleast another half an hour,providing joy only to speaker
to tell the tales to these anxious listeners from a far away place, and of cours
e to the listenenrs.
Even Vina ji was much excited.'Wow you have carried these all long your journey
,these must be heavy indeed', she remarked pointing towards the magazines(thre s
arjana and three smarika) we had presented to them.
He had some other persons waiting for him and had an assignment of going to loca
l book store to sign books for his fans,so we did leave the room with an exciti
ng lifetime memory.I am reluctant to disclose more,for something ought to be lef
t for the magazine.The return journy was also a much exciting and enjoyable one
with chilled breezes giving us a parting message to return soon and we realized
why a man of mountain has left the glamours of the cities to hide onself in the
haven for aesthetic beings.
Koustuv Garai
BIT SINDRI
070909