Book Review: And Now We Are Twelve by Ruskin Bond

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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