The Room on the Roof

The Room on the Roof is a novel written by Ruskin Bond.

The Room on the Roof
1987 edition cover
AuthorRuskin Bond
Original titleThe Room on the Roof
Cover artistClarf Bishop Dean
CountryIndia
LanguageEnglish
SeriesRuskin's famous Novels
GenreFiction
PublisherCoward-McCann (original)[1]
Penguin Books (current)
Publication date
1956
Media typePaperback
Pages160 pages (first edition)[1]
ISBN0140107835
OCLC1579534
Preceded byN/A 
Followed byVagrants in the Valley 

It was Bond's first literary venture. Bond wrote the novel when he was seventeen[2] and won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize in 1957.[2][3] The novel revolves around Rusty, an orphaned seventeen-year-old Anglo-Indian boy living in Dehradun. Due to his guardian Mr Harrison's strict ways, he runs away from his home to live with his Indian friends.

Summary

This is a story about an orphaned boy named Rusty, of Anglo-Indian descent, living in a European colony in Dehra (a place in Uttarakhand) with his guardian Mr. Harrison and the missionary's wife, who wants him to stay away from Indians and groom him as a pure Englishman. However, in this process, Harrison’s stringent behavior perturbs Rusty’s flourishing teenage years. While walking home in the rain, he was offered help by Somi and Ranbir who go on to become his friends. Rusty is unhappy with his life at his guardian's house and longs for freedom.

He runs away from his home and lives with his friend Somi, who gets him a job as an English teacher for Kishen (Mr.Kapoor's son). At Mr.Kapoor's house, he is given a room on the roof. Mr.Kapoor is a drunkard, who has a beautiful wife, Meena Kapoor. Rusty and Meena fall in love with each other. On the way to Delhi, Meena dies in a car crash. Kishen is sent to stay with his aunt and Mr.Kapoor remarries. Rusty decides to leave India and go to England as none of his friends remain in Dehra. He decides to visit Kishen before leaving for England. In Haridwar , he learns that Kishen has run away from home and become a thief. He meets Kishen and they both leave for Dehra, where Kishen plans on opening a chaat shop and making Rusty an English professor.

Characters
  • Rusty: an orphan boy
  • Mr John Harrison: A bad guardian of Rusty
  • The Missionary's wife
  • Kishen- The boy whom Rusty taught English and Mr.Kapoor's son
  • Mrs Meena Kapoor: Kishen's mother
  • Mr Kapoor: Kishen's father
  • Somi: A Sikh boy, Rusty's friend and a partner
  • Ranbir: A muscular boy and the best wrestler in the bazaar.
  • Suri: A bespectacled and bony boy and Somi's friend, known for his reputation as a spy.
  • Prickly Heat: Suri's dog
  • Sweeper boy

Reception

Upon release, the book received positive reviews. Santha Rama Rau of The New York Times commented "Like an Indian bazaar itself, the book is filled with the smells, sights, sounds, confusion and subtle organization of ordinary Indian life".[4] Herald Tribune said that the book "has a special magic of its own". San Francisco Chronicle said that the book has "considerable charm and spontaneity".

The Guardian called the book "very engaging". The Scotsman commented "Moving in its simplicity and underlying tenderness...a novel of marked originality". The New Statesman said that "Mr Bond is a writer of great gifts".[5] The Hindu said that "Bond so picturesquely draws the contrast from the stark and claustrophobic English part of town with the noise, colour and vibrancy of the Indian quarter. This is a touching story of love and friendship".[6]

The first official Bengali version of Ruskin Bond's The Room on the Roof has been translated by Partha Pratim Das and published by Book Farm in 2022 as "Chilekothar Ghar".[7]

References
  1. Bond, Ruskin (1957). The Room on the Roof - Google Books. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
  2. "Ruskin Bond's first novel". Hindustan Times. 5 July 2019.
  3. "THE ROOM ON THE ROOF by Ruskin Bond". The Hindu. 23 April 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
  4. Santha Rama Rau (17 March 1957). "Escape To Life". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  5. "The Room on the Roof and Vagrants in the Valley" by Ruskin Bond". AbeBooks. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  6. Kurian, Nimi (16 December 2013). "Booked by Bond". The Hindu.
  7. Das, Partha Pratim (2022). Chilekothar Ghar (in Bengali). Kolkata: Book Farm.
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