The Sensualist
by Ruskin Bond is not a children’s book. Rather this book takes a stance on a
man who once was obsessed with having sex and driving pleasure from women. This
book, in particular, discusses the darker aspect of human psyche. The narrator
is walking long a river bank while going somewhere up in the hills. As it
begins to rain, he seeks shelter in a cave. The cave is inhabited by a man: he
is like a saint but of well-built physique. The narrator and the man begin
conversation. The saint-like man talks about his past life and how he came into
the hills. Both men are nameless in the story; the only names that appear in
the story are of women.
The saint-like
man’s sex drive story starts something like this. As a child he was under the
caretaker of a voluptuous female servant called Mulia. She was of strong flesh
and bones, they both get attracted to each other and though he was only a child
then but he began enjoying her body and cuddling. The boy’s mother was aware of
this but she didn’t get into it because he was the only child of her and,
moreover, she herself was fond of him. His father was a rich businessman. He
never cared for his son, neither expected any good great deal from him. He knew
that he was going to be a fruitless chap, not useful for his business. Mulia
was double his age but she continued to be his bed partner until he became an
adult and then one day he ran away.
The second
lady in his life was his cousin Samyuktha. She was a student of Vedic medicine.
Whenever Samyuktha’s mother went away, he would go and snatch her. The girl was
of ordinary beauty but held a high charm in bed.
Not only this,
he used to visit a prostitute as well. Her name was Sankhini. Since he gave her
good money, hence she used to spend good and quality time with him. From all
three women, he would drive pleasure like a selfish beast but he never cared to
fall in love.
One occasion,
his father forced him to go to Delhi to attend an exhibition. While travelling
from Dehradun to Delhi, when the train halted at Deoband for no apparent
reason, on an impulse he got down.
Next, he put himself
up in a hotel and began living there to observe the life of other people. One
night while strolling, he stumbled upon a poor young boy sleeping on the
pavement. He took him to his hotel. The boy expressed his misery and said that
he would like to go back to his home that was somewhere up in the hills and for
travelling he had no money. The man promised him to take him to his home; soon they
began journey; first by bus and then by foot. They reach his village. There he
saw that Roop’s mother was a widow. Roop’s younger brother went to school every
day. The widow was of great physical and mental toughness. Satiating that lady
was a difficult task indeed…he felt that way. He knew that widow had been
keeping an eye on him. One summer night, she grasped him and took out all his
virility off him. He felt incomplete to satiate her. She would feed him with
herbal potions only to squeeze him later. He grew pale and indifferent. He
wanted to run away but found his suitcase locked inside. Roop’s younger brother
understood his plight and then secretly took out his wallet from the storeroom
and handed him. He ran away one morning.
When he
reached home, no one said a single word to him. He lost interest in Mulia, he
failed in bed with Samyuktha, and also with that sex worker Sankhini. He was
made impotent by that hill woman. Leaving his world, the man shameful of his
actions, headed towards the mountains to live alone.
The message
from the book is that in pursuit of carnal desires one should not cross certain
limit. The narrator finds the saint-like man cold in every sense, thus leaving
him he advances ahead to his destination.
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