3rd Post

Review of Ruskin Bond’s “A Season of Ghosts” by Prabal Dahal.

Ruskin Bond, an Indian writer, is one of the winners of Sahitya Akademi and Padma Shree, renowned literary awards in India. Out of his many creations which include “A flight of Pigeons” and “The Sensualist”; I got an opportunity to read the book “A Season of Ghosts” that was published in 1999, all thanks to my father. Having read the book, one can easily tell that Mr. Bond is a satirist. He mentions that he does not believe in ghosts but sees them time and again. He says that he has created the book with the stories he had heard and read, and the stories that are made out of his imaginations during the times; the times he calls himself- his “dark” and “supernatural” times.

A season of Ghosts is made into an almost perfect shape filled with ten stories, out of which the first nine are directly related with ghosts, witches, phantoms, spirits and other creatures that are scary to the human beings. Mr. Bond has tried to explain that all of these creatures are not evil and mean but rather friendly. The tenth story is slightly not related with ghosts but a linkage could be created with the ghosts within oneself, or that is what I think.

The first story, “Whistling in the Dark” is about a friendly ghost boy who saves Mr. Bond from danger. What kind of danger? You might want to find out yourself/yourselves. The second story “Wilson’s Bridge” suggests that one’s imagination can cause severe loss. It is not wise to always remain in the world of imaginations and thoughts. Sometimes, we are required to be real and take proper civil actions. “On Fairy Hill”, the third story reflects the writer’s hunger for peace. Nirvana, a state of complete satisfaction and peace, as termed in Buddhism is what I think the writer seeks for. Of course, the writer seems to be little shy to put his wish up straight and hence uses a slightly different approach towards presenting the wish of his. Witch, broomstick and witches’ favourite pet- cats are what the fourth article “The Black Cat” is about. The writer sure misses his broomstick that cost his 5 whole rupees.

 Through “Reunion at the Regal”, Mr. Bond presents the idea that we all have our duplicates, and suggests that if you see your long lost friend or relative out of nowhere, you might want to reconsider approaching him or her for he or she might just be some other person, a duplicate that only looks just like your friend or relative. “Something in the water” talks about a water ghost and via this story, Mr. Bond suggests the readers to be well aware about any water resources before diving into it. What a greed for something a person longs for can do to him even after death is well presented in the story titled “The Prize”. 

The eighth story, “Night of the Millennium” clarifies the statement, ‘What goes well, ends well’. Okay, I might have tried to act satirical about this article. So you better read the story yourself to find out what the real thing is. However, I can tell you that things are not exactly what they seem to be. “The Rakshassas”, the ninth story is about Rakshassas, mythical and generally evil creatures. It presents the reader with the idea that no one in the world should be trusted just because he seems trustworthy. Trust can be very hazardous to health. By health I literally meant life.

Last but not the least, the tenth story “Who killed the Rani?” is about the murder a women called Nita. It is more precisely about a police Inspector trying to solve a mystery but later lets the mystery remain a mystery all by himself. Why a police Inspector would let the mystery be a mystery and why is the word “Rani”, Hindi for “Queen” used in the title? Well, it would be better if you read the story yourself. And yes, out of the ten stories in the book, this is the longest and covers more than half of the book’s total pages.

When I had got the book on my hand, and read the title, I thought it was some serious, deadly and scary ghost book. It took me great guts to actually start the book but having read the first story, I was relieved that I could spend the night without having haunted nightmares. Of course, I do not mean the book is boring. You can enjoy each and every nooks and cronies of the book.