Ruskin Bond at his simple best

Ruskin Bond&rsquos long and august career as one of India&rsquos greatest writers has always been marked by a sense of stillness, an inner calm that radiates from the man and his works. As he enters his ninth decade, ensconced in his beloved Mussoorie hills and casting fond looks back on his life, his new collection of hill pieces, A Book of Simple Living, reveals a lot about Ruskin Bond the man, the writer, the raconteur and the avid observer.

These pieces, which also include stray verses, don&rsquot really have any organising principle. They are, like the subtitle says, brief notes, that begin and end in medias res. In gnomic pieces reminiscent of the short and evocative poems of old Buddhist Chinese poets like Wang Wei, Bond muses about nature, about the nature of creativity, change, of the life of the mind and the pleasures of the flesh.

In a literary world of outsized egos, Bond&rsquos self-effacing ways have always been a breath of fresh air. His simplicity is perfect for his subject, and this allows him to arrive at original observations. He prides himself on being a sensualist, and in the opening piece he likens a familiar stray cat that comes every afternoon to sleep in the sun on his terrace to a monk. He then goes to define what his ideal monk is &ldquoA good monk would be a mild sort of fellow, a bit of a sensualist, capable of compassion for the world, but also for himself. He would know that it is all right not to climb every mountain.&rdquo This has been the tone of his life as a writer, and he returns to this trope of peace again and again, be it when he&rsquos reminiscing about a brief affair in 1950s London, or about his descriptions of changing seasons or that of his adopted Garhwali family with whom he shares his life. The way he immerses himself in every kind of experience, be it with nature or with people, makes Bond a true pagan&mdashone who accords equal respect to a drunk mailman or a whistling thrush.

This beautifully produced slim volume is perfect for random dippings. Even now, so many people know Bond merely as a writer of children&rsquos stories, like the Rusty books. Simple Living makes one realise just how much more there is to him, and how much we will miss him when Rusty does finally run away.