Like most self-help books, The Golden Years comes with an impressive subtitle — The Many Joys of Living a Good Long Life. In this case, however, the author is speaking from a wealth of experience. About 89 years of experience, to be precise.
The slim volume, which was released by publisher HarperCollins on May 19 to coincide with his 89th birthday, is meant for readers who, like Ruskin Bond, are over the age of 60 years, and eager to savour life. “As I am a reasonably happy person by nature, I thought maybe I could encourage others to be more positive about growing old. Of course, if you enjoy your work, you wouldn’t want to retire. I take life one day at a time. Now it is one story at a time. So I keep writing and reading a lot,” he says, discussing the book
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Ruskin Bond begins his latest book The Golden Years, with advice for writers: ‘If you have reached the pinnacle of your writing career, why stop? And if you haven’t achieved what you set out to, why give up?’
The wisdom may resonate with those who net and pin down words on the page for a living; but how does a creator find the will to keep going in an era that has welcomed artificial intelligence chatbots?
“That’s true. Only two days ago, I was invited to a seminar on artificial intelligence, and there were two or three people who gave talks which I found difficult to follow. When my turn came to speak, I said, ‘I’m sorry but I have to depend on my natural and normal intelligence to survive in this world.’ But a robot could have helped me with my sums in school, and maybe I would have become a mathematical genius,” he laughs, over the phone from his home in Landour, near Mussoorie in Uttarakhand.
Having given up typing due to shoulder and neck pain long ago, Bond writes his manuscripts by hand. “My handwriting is quite decent; my publishers don’t object. I enjoy writing by hand with colourful ballpoint pens, because it is more personal in a way.”
A bit of history
Bond retains his light-hearted style of conveying profound thoughts in his book. With 60 chapters, some not longer than a page or two, The Golden Years can be read in one sitting. Some of the chapters seem to be have similar themes ( The Joy of Walking and The Lonely Times for example), but when re-read at a more leisurely pace, they have their own charm.
In the chapter A Bit of History, Bond recalls attending the coronation parade of Queen Elizabeth II in 1952 as a bystander and watching it on black-and-white television in London.
What did he feel about the coronation of King Charles a few weeks ago? “Of course it looked more impressive on colour TV, though it was raining in London then and now,” Bond says.
One doesn’t always have to make history, while being in the thick of it, he says. “The Quit India movement happened, the Second World War was in progress, independence and Partition came to the subcontinent and Gandhiji was assassinated, all within the eight years when I was in boarding school, from 1942 to 1950, in Simla. Although I didn’t see all that was happening, it was happening around one.”
Descriptive power
Bond’s keen sense of observation is best seen in the chapters on the flora and fauna of his hometown. His cat Mimi, who like him, ‘possesses the laziness of an intelligent person (or cat) who just wants to sit back a little and watch the world go by,’ shares space with cheeky monkeys, crows and bulbuls.
Off the pages, Bond has a feline civil war going on under his bed, he says. “Mimi, who is eight years old, resents the young male cat that one of my grandsons has brought to keep her company. She keeps trying to drive him out of the house. And last night I couldn’t sleep because they were fighting under my bed, making a terrible noise. I’ve got to find some way of preventing this war from continuing. So it’s not only humans who fight with each other.”
Maidenhair poignantly talks about the fern that Sushila, a girl he loved 50 years ago, asked him to preserve, as does Favourite Trees, that recount them sharing kisses with lips stained with the juice of sweet-and-sour jamuns. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen her. She must be a grandmother by now,” muses Bond. “I have been really lucky, I have a very loving adopted family. Beena and Rakesh look after me very well. And because of them I have several children doing different things.”
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Ending on a cheerful note, Ruskin Bond hopes that his book appeals to readers of all ages. “One day, if a boy or girl is lucky, they are going to get old, so they should look forward to it instead of being negative about it. Old age is a good time to reflect; for writing, reading, for coming to terms with life and accepting the world around us,” he concludes.
Bond admits to relishing sweets with a childish glee in The Golden Years. Lollipops, ice creams and ‘mouthwatering jalebis all spangled in golden syrup,’ are some of his favourites. “Yes, it’s true and I’ve a nice tummy too,” he chuckles. “People are kind enough to send me cakes on my birthday, but it would be dangerous for me to eat all of them. Better to leave them for the kids at my age.”
The Golden Years — The Many Joys of Living a Good Long Life by Ruskin Bond; ₹399; HarperCollins Publishers India
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