For the people
interested in whereabouts of Ruskin Bond, as where he lives, with whom, is he
married or living with an adopted family? Well, this short story is for you -
And Now We Are Twelve – this story is about Ruskin’s cottages (he used to
change quite a few) in Mussoorie and family and children associated with him
since a long time.
In a nutshell
this story is plot less; rather it accounts the life of Ruskin Bond since 1970
when he started building a family with family of others. Reading this short
story will reveal as why Ruskin chose to stay in Mussoorie as he could have
settled in England, Shimla or some other hilly place of India. The story goes
like this, when Ruskin came in Mussoorie as a new entrant, he got the company
of Prem, an inhabitant of hills. Prem along with his small family stayed with
Ruskin in his cottages, sometimes up the hill or down in the valley, as a
helper. Gradually, their understanding grew deeper. This you will read in the story
From Small Beginnings by Ruskin Bond.
And when Prem’s family started increasing, tree-wise, Ruskin could not separate
himself from them. So, even today, as Prem is no longer alive but Ruskin lives
with his grandsons in Mussoorie. And the total family size, at the time of this
story published, was twelve. May be it has gone up – who knows.
This story
also highlights the soft corner of Ruskin for the people of hills of India. As
he never assumed Prem as his servant, rather looked upon him like a brother and
often played with his children, especially cricket matches as a twelfth man.
What all goes in a family for this lonely writer has been beautifully captured
in this story. Rakesh, Mukesh, Gautam are some of the names that Ruskin often
mentions in his stories and no wonder all these names are from his home.
Enjoyed reading this story! Here
is your chance to read 30 best stories by Ruskin Bond - https://goo.gl/uBeMY6
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