Friends in Wild Places: Birds, Beasts and Other Companions By Ruskin Bond

Publisher: Speaking Tiger

Rs 499/-

Friends in Wild Places is a collection of Bond’s writings on his wild friends, who range from tiger to the insect. In the author’s eyes they are all equal-birds, bees, beasts, bats-and humans.

As always, the stories are engaging, endearing, and yet profound. Sample this from a ‘Little World of Mud’: To the Inhabitants of the pond, the pond was the world, and to the inhabitants of the world, the world was but a muddy pond…

This one is a very special Bond. Not least because it is beautifully, lavishly illustrated by Shubhadarshini Singh, what I love most though is the author’s affectionate kinship with nature. It soothes the soul, and restores the faith, especially in a time when most of humanity seems to be at war, and not at peace, with nature. Writes he: “As I had not taken anything from the jungle, the birds and animals soon grew accustomed to me. After some time my approach did not disturb them.”

Friends in Wild Places is written with a pen dipped in humour, and an occasional sense of melancholy, that ensures that the stories, and their characters, stay with you long after you have put the book down.