Ruskin Bond's Desh: Celebrating Root and Defining Identity

Desh is desh ; videsh cannot replace its authenticity.. Neither can a soul be completely happy in videsh " -- Dr. Arup Pal ( the author ) I've long craved for this book and finally I've gone through in it... A masterpiece I've ever read.. I often wonder while reading Bond , how an Anglo-Indian can be so devoted to India ! This book has cleared all my confusions .. Ruskin Bond was undergoing through an identity crisis and he was unable to define his "desh" , his root.. Here the Author has criticised some of Bond's literary works and marked that his protagonists also feel the same he does.. Even an Indian sometimes overlooks the enormity of our glorified culture but being an Anglo-Indian , Bond was so proud of India , the country which esteems humanity amidst hundreds of social , cultural , religious difference.... Ruskin was failed to set his mind in West , at last he reverted to India after sojourn to Britain... Dr. Arup Pal has depicted very skillfully how Dehradun's ambience unravels Bond's bewilderment and helped his oscillated spirit to be stagnant...He has clearly explained Ruskin's journey chapter wise ... 'The idea of the self ' , ' desh - videsh ' , ' intervening the self ' , 'liberating motherhood ', ' Dehra - to return his root ' these all chapters have enriched my knowledge and helped me to feel the emotional attachment of Anglo-Indian to India.. Somewhere I've been able to smell the adolescent literatures of Bond profoundly... The last chapter charmed me by Dehra's essence .. I'm enchanted and delighted by the line the author has mentioned ," Where Dehra stands apart is that the novelist doesn't write fiction about it but allows dehra-ness to permeate into fiction " ... Hence Arup Sir has clearly justified India as "desh" to Bond by his super craftsmanship henceforth his identity has been rooted.... Application of marvelous words and powerful lines.. I've got drenched by the author's narratives... A stunning debut which deals with the emotional space of Anglo-Indian , success of Bond's life and authorial self... 5 star ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating from my end !! Thoroughly enjoyed this book.. and I want "Ruskin Bond's desh : celebrating root and defining identity " must be experienced by each readers.. therefore I highly recommend this book .. Tonnes of respect to the author , Dr. Arup Pal ... I wish to experience more of his innovative ideas and literary works.. Best Regards , Sanjukta Sen .