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A Little Night Music
Ruskin Bond’s satisfaction, thankfulness and joy in the life given to him has always been evident in his work, and of late, perhaps even more so. And his zest for life and appreciation of every moment that life brings is apparent in his poetry. As he says, in All is Life, Whether by accident or design, We are here. `85Hold on to times of pain and strife: Until death comes, all is life. This slim little book containing 34 poems by Bond is sheer delight. Easy to read (one can ingest it in an hour), the book is typically Ruskin in its worldview. That being that, of course there is strife in the world and unhappiness and sorrows, but there is beauty and nobility, too. There are laughter and happiness and sound values. Why would one choose to wallow in pain? For himself and his reader, he chooses beauty and laughter. Bond has not attempted pure poetry before this, yet, as he says in his foreword, he has "slipped my poems into collections of stories and essays—one way of getting them published" and so one is familiar with his verse and wanting more of it. A Little Night Music is a result of his indulgence in "this favorite pastime of mine" for a couple of months last year. The poems are mint fresh and not from previous compilations or previously published. One finds Bond in various moods here: pensive, humorous, rambunctious, and introspective. The collection brings forth some poems about his forays into nature, butterflies and buttercups, rivers and mountains, stars and sunshine. In The Colors of Life, he talks of his favorite saying: Look for the colors of life– They are everywhere, Even in your dreams. Cricket, of course is Bond’s all-time favourite subject. In his previous book: The India That I Love we had come across the activities of The Local Team and in this volume, too, he makes A Plea for Bowlers, for whom he confesses: "I have always felt sorry." Cricket will never be fair Till bowlers get their rightful share. And the way to make it fair is simple in Bond’s estimation Make those wickets broader, taller! He continues in the humorous strain in We Are The Babus, though there is a little bite in the humour there. We are the babus, this is our law– Soak the rich and harry the poor! The Demon Driver is a wry look at his own doubtful driving prowess. It’s a narrative poem and probably one of the longest in the book. It ends with: Alas! My new car was sent for repair, But my friends gathered round and said, never despair! ‘We are all going to help you to make a fresh start.’ And the next day they gave me a nice bullock-cart. There are ghouls and ghosts, fruits and flowers, happiness and sadness and doses of sound values that Bond would have us impart to our children. Don’t Go To War, My Son, he advises, and in What Can We Give Our Children, he suggests: Knowledge, yes, and honour too And strength of character And the gift of laughter. In its simplicity and variety, the book is sure to appeal to children and their parents. The title may make some parents take a pleasant stroll into the world of music—Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (A Little Night Music) is the nickname of Mozart’s Serenade No. 13 and then there was a 1970’s Stephen Sondheim Broadway musical by the same name, too. How about reading the book to the Serenade? I leave that to you to find out. |
IN an interaction with the audience after this book
was released in Chandigarh, one of the questions that were put to Ruskin
Bond was that if he was given the choice of identities in his next life,
what or whom would he choose to be? To this, Bond had no hesitation in
replying that his had been a good life and with a few minor changes, his
was the life that he would choose. To this he was further questioned:
"What minor changes?" That kind of had him stumped and after
some thought he ventured: "Some more runs in cricket
perhaps`85"
