Romi and the
Wildfire is a beautifully written novella by Ruskin Bond which, at the first
thought, delves deep into the problem of wildfire that causes havoc in the
mountains. While reading this story, you will come to know how disasters like
wildfire or forest fire takes a toll on the life of hilly people along with
animals and birds. During wildfire in the mountains, people shift from one
place to another but animals are rendered homeless and for this reason they
come out in the open, in the territories of humans, and then it all imbalances
the ecosystem.
Coming to the
main story – it opens with Romi, a young boy of around eleven or twelve, who
has come to another village to obtain some important medical pills for his
ailing father. It is the same village where he comes every day for his school,
since his own village is limited to primary grade.
It is already
evening. Prem, his friend and also classmate, points to the jungle fire in the
east. He insists Romi not to go through the jungle which is caught by wildfire.
Romi can stay for the night at Prem’s home but he has to carry those important
medical pills for his father, who has recently bought him a new bicycle. Romi
is filled with gratitude for his father. Also, Romi is confident of crossing
the distance of five miles through the jungle in around forty minutes.
Romi starts on
his new bicycle. He is pedaling fast, the fire is in the right side, but still
quite far from the route he is travelling on. As he is trundling fast, some
wild hares cross the path. Then a band of monkeys streams across, chattering
excitedly. Soon a bunch of pheasants fly across the path and a few collide with
his bicycle. Romi falls down and injures his knee, bleeding. He brushes his
clothes and covers his knee with the handkerchief. He mounts the bicycle again
and then rides slowly because a lot of animals and birds are crossing the path
and the air fills up with shrieks and cries. Everyone is moving – it must be a
big fire. He sees the fire from the right side and then a herd of deer pass the
path. He waits for them to clear off.
From ahead, he
hears the clanging of metal. As he draws closer, he sees a small boy running
along the forest path with two milk cans at his sides. Romi recognizes the boy
as Teju from a neighboring village, he comes to deliver milk to the road-side
workers but due to fire the workers must have left early. Teju hurriedly sits
on the crossbar of the bicycle. They are back to riding again. Now the fire is
close by – they can see it and feel the scorching. All of sudden a silk tree
burning bright, almost falls on them, but somehow they veer their path and come
unscathed off it. Teju is continuously talking to him, however Romi has greater
sense of presence in the hours of danger, thus he is constantly thinking about
fire and animals.
Romi stops the
bicycle in horror as just fifty yards ahead of them they see an elephant
trumpeting hard to call out the signals of danger to all its members. They fall
down from the bicycle and Teju’s milk cans burst open, spilling all milk. Just
after the forest path there is a wooden bridge for their village. They have to
ride fast to reach there on time otherwise they will be caught in the fire.
After pedaling hard for ten to fifteen minutes when they come out of the forest
path to the downside, to their consternation the wooden bridge is burning
bright. And they cannot ride over it – it will be suicidal. As a last resort
they jump in the shallow river. Due to summer, the river is not that high and
fast, water level is till their necks, thus they both cross the river stumbling
here and there along with the bicycle. They reach on the other side safely. The
kind of struggle they put is worth praising and at the same time Ruskin insists
on the theme of nature.
As in all
Ruskin Bond books, the theme of the nature is persistent, and here the forest
fire fills the backdrop of the story all throughout. The character of Romi is
great - at times looks larger-than-life. He is brave, helpful, thoughtful and
dedicated to duty. Packed with action, it’s an amazing read.
Enjoyed reading this story! Here
is your chance to read 30 best stories by Ruskin Bond - https://goo.gl/uBeMY6
What are the solution
ReplyDeleteI want reviews
ReplyDelete