Till The Clouds Roll By - Beginning again
by Ruskin Bond and illustrated by Mihir Joglekar
“Till The Clouds Roll By - Beginning again” by Ruskin Bond and illustrated by Mihir Joglekar. Published by Penguin. The second of Ruskin Bond’s memoirs for children talking about the changes in his life after his father’s death when he was ten and his vacation to Dehradun from almost eighty years ago.
The book starts with ten year old Ruskin travelling to Dehradun for the winter holidays from his boarding school in Shimla. It has just been a few months since his beloved father’s death. He has to reacquaint himself with his mother now as she has married again and lives in a new house. Not just her but his stepfather and new siblings. While he longs for his father’s stamps and gramophone, he knows that those are things of the past and not going to come back.
The place and people seem unfamiliar but then unexpected friendships and some memorable experiences keep him occupied. He keeps himself occupied with books and walks through the holidays to get used to the new changes in his life. Read the delightful book to know this phase of Ruskin Bond’s life.
My eight year old loved reading the book with me. The narration was so smooth and laced with tenderness, good humour and traces of an achy heart longing for the good memories of the past. The illustrations brought the story and the setting to life so well. While we grieve over the loss of someone that we loved so much, it is sometimes unbelievable how we go on living and manage to lead our lives. There is that pain and longing that gives us the strength I guess. The tag line for this book resonated so well - “Most of us grow in our teens or twenties. I think I grew up when I was ten”. It must have been a sea change for Ruskin to have adapted himself from a doting father to a mother who was hardly expressive to him and busy with her social life and a stepfather who hardly spent time with him.
I had bookmarked this book and the series for future in our wishlist. But a stroke of unexpected luck made us read it much earlier than I thought we would. Will talk about it when I write the review of the fifth and final book from the series :) My son has been reading each book of the series for the second time by himself. Looks like the series has had a deep connection with him. I see him adoring the books like never before :)
Here is the review of the first book - Looking for the Rainbow.
Recommended Age
The book is apt for anyone aged 8/9+.
Reasons to Read
The book is a wonderful memoir of one of India’s most loved writers!
The book portrays how we can try and make the most of our lives despite the sudden changes and tough situations that we can sometimes land up in.
Where to buy from?
An independent bookstore, Funky Rainbow, from where I buy many of my books.