Mussoorie, India. 19th May, 2011.
After tea and the morning ablutions, my good friend Kaushik and I set out to look for his wife Chaitali's mobile phone at the places visited yesterday, but in vain. After breakfast at Madras Cafe, hired a Maruti van to visit the great Mr. Ruskin Bond. Reached his home, Ivy Cottage, Landour cantonment, on the dot for our 12 noon appointment. He already had a visitor in the form of one of his publishers, but welcomed us as he was expecting us.
It was a dream come true for me; I had waited for this moment for years!! Mr. Bond was well dressed and looked fit, though he did look all of 77 years. All of us were thrilled!! We wished him a happy birthday and gave him a copy of our school's magazine, in which we had included a small interview of his that we had conducted over the phone, a few months ago.
We gifted him a pen set and a birthday card. He guessed that the gift was a pen for him to continue writing, as authors do not have retirement. We wholeheartedly agreed. He asked about our school at Nashik; we then discussed Mussoorie, Shimla, etc. He said that his favourite story was 'A crow for all seasons'. When asked about his experience with ghosts, he confessed that he had not experienced one. We called up our school principal at Nashik; and later my father-in-law at Mumbai; and he very kindly spoke to them. Also spoke to my grade 7 students Kshitij and Tanmay, who had called on my phone. he expressed a desire to visit Nashik and we do hope that the visit materialises soon. After a photo session and signing autograph, we wished him again and bade good bye.
Took a taxi to Kempty falls; the route was nice and afforded great valley views throughout.
The falls were good but the place was a virtual bazaar, with shops all down the way to the falls and a sea of humanity swimming in the artificial pool. A ropeway to a newly built resort next to the falls, was in operation. It could have been any waterpark near Mumbai! A bitterly disappointing visit!
Returned to Mussoorie, lunched at 'My Shoppee' and then strolled towards teh Tibetan market in search of Chaitali's lost phone, halting on the way to lodge an FIR. Then back to our hotel on the Mall road, amidst cold winds blowing in our faces. Enjoyed carrying Dora - Kaushik and Chaitali's sweet daughter - from the ropeway point to our hotel, exchanging sweet nothings. Rested and watched photos on Kaushik's laptop, then stepped out for dinner - sandwich, momos, dosas, pudding and coffee. Returned to the hotel and chatted up to a little past midnight.
A note:
I slipped in this write-up on Mussoorie in between my write-ups on Europe, because of today's date - 19th May 2021. Mr. Ruskin Bond's birthday and the tenth anniversary of our meeting him!