The Great Train Journey

The Great Train Journey‘The first time I saw a train, I was standing on a wooded slope outside a tunnel, not far from Kalka. Suddenly, with a shrill whistle and great burst of steam, a green and black engine came snorting out of the blackness.. “A dragon!” I shouted. “There’s a dragon coming out of its cave!”’The charm of travelling by a train as it speeds its way out of a tunnel or a jungle and passes through nondescript villages and towns is unmatched. There also exists a joyful curiosity in unfolding the mysterious lives and destinations of its passengers.Ruskin Bond has been writing tales about the hinterland for decades, but this is the first time his stories revolving around trains and railway stations of small-town India have been brought together in a single collection. Classics such as ‘The Eyes Have It’ and ‘The Night Train at Deoli’ rub shoulders with tales of big cats taking refuge in railway tunnels and strangers who strike up a friendship while waiting at a platform.So, hop on and allow one of India’s greatest storytellers to steer you through the Great Train Journey.Roads to MussoorieRoads to Mussoorie is a memorable evocation of a writer's surroundings and the role they have played in his work and life. Ruskin Bond describes his many journeys to, from and around Mussoorie, delving with gusto into the daily scandals of this not so sleepy hill town. The pieces in this collection are characterized by Bond's incorrigible sense of humour and eye for detail, as well as his enduring affection and nostalgia for the home he has lived in for over forty years.