Hold on to your Dreams-A book by Ruskin Bond

If you like to write, but don't know where to start, this is the book you must read.

If you are lost in the vicissitudes of life, and in "toomuchery", this is the book you must read.

If you wish to know what life looks like at the age of 90, this is the book you must read.

If you made a mistake and are going too harsh on yourself, this is the book you must read.

If you want a feel-good vibe on a chilly Friday morning, just like me, this is the book you must read.

The Book!

I stumbled upon this book this morning while brushing my teeth. My husband, Ankit, has a great collection of books, so much so that one of our beds is filled with them. The count? Well, 400-500 maybe? or even more!!

I wanted this morning to be a light day. I needed some food for my brain. Something better to think about than just the random nothings of daily chores. The househelps were working, and they needed their space to finish their work (just like we all do). So, I sat down with this book, overhearing the clattering of the utensils and the aroma of delicious Bhakris and Methi Bhaji being cooked.

The mood was set, the place was apt, and the chirping of the birds was the much-needed sound to help me get started with reading. The title of the book itself was intriguing. I was starting to think of giving up on my life plans when I read the title "Hold on to Your Dreams".

Boom!!! Baaam! Someone just said it out loud, what I needed to hear this morning. That girl, hold onto your dreams. Don't give up. Not yet. Ruskin Bond, an experienced man in his 90s, was talking to me. If he can say in the opening page itself that "I keep making the same mistakes. I don't learn from them. I see other people making mistakes and learning very little from them". I think I, in my 30s, have a lot of freedom and scope and space to commit gazillions more mistakes.

Another random thought while reading the book and writing this piece is that we probably start writing the way we have read. Meaning, Bond has used free-flow writing in the book. Starting from life, he moves to Mimi (his cat), then to evolution, to omelets, to Diwali, to silence, to a horseshoe, to the teenage years, and to multiple such endless lists of things. You see the beauty? He switches from topic to topic flawlessly and keeps me hooked throughout the read. I took 1 hour to read this book, and at every minute I wanted to know what he would talk about next!! The beauty of writing. Or the beauty of writing by an extremely experienced writer! And hence, this write-up may seem similar to that. Just a free-flow of thoughts. To some, it may sound scattered; to some, it may seem structured. To me, it's a free-flow of the ink!

Bond uses black pages and illustrations to reiterate some powerful lines from his book.

Bond very humbly accepts that his writing has not peaked yet. He still has a lot of work to do on writing, and he is not fully satisfied with it. Now what does one call this? Humility? Self-criticism or self-awareness? I personally think Bond is one of the greatest and most eloquent writers that English Literature has seen. I have many people who stay in Uttarakhand, say that they "moved to the hills", just like Bond did. Now, if that is not an example of a "reader getting inspired by a writer and copying the same phrases", then I don't know what is. Bond also goes on to say, "Putting down my thoughts and reflections in the form of a letter comes readily to me than using the more formal medium of a memoir or the egoism of a journal. In a journal, one is talking to oneself. I would rather be talking to someone else - someone on the same wavelength, so to speak - a reader like myself or a friend from long ago who is far away."

This is exactly what I was talking about when I meant free-flow writing. That Bond has given that space to keep on writing, one and all, the random thoughts that come to his mind. He did not use a formal medium like a journal or a diary. He simply said it's a "letter". And letters can all be random! Though it's random to him, or as it may seem when you first read this book, even before you realise, you would have finished the entire book and felt as if you heard Bond speak right in front of you! That is what writing and reading do. You mimic. You learn. You copy. You enjoy. You inspire. You hear. You internalise.

Very lovingly, Bond also talks about what he dreamt of becoming back in his years of boyhood. He says, "I could be a tap dancer or a pirate or a cowboy or even a great singer!". This reminds me of dreaming. When I was in my 3rd-4th grade, I wanted to become a dancer. Middle School was about becoming a civil servant. Senior grades - closer to reality - I was happy if I could successfully find a job within the next 5-6 years. So, it's about dreams. Dreams that fuel us and inspire us to be someone. If Bond can dream, or write about his dream in his 90s, why can't we? What made us give up or think we had had enough?

Reading further, I think that a beautiful thing that a great writer also does is to help you imagine. He helps you be there, right there, present, at the place from where he is writing. The explanation would give you a vivid imagery of what the things around him would be like. What the sounds would be like, who will be where, and what the smell around would be like. Read both of these excerpts.

Excerpts from the book

Aren't they a beautiful description of the things around Bond? I felt as if I was right there, with him, listening to him!

Bond goes from talking about the Ukraine-Palestine war to AI to his cat Mimi within the same paragraph. And as random as it may sound here, trust me, when you read it, you too shall be glued!

Bond has penned his thoughts with grace; he reflects upon love, loss, friendship, solitude, companionship, and all the bittersweet experiences of human existence. He talks about youth, about boyhood, about embracing empathy and holding onto dreams. He talks about the loneliness of a writer, to his cat loving sardines, roses fading, and humans being monkeys! Precisely, if you want to hear how gracefully the not-so-important things of life can turn into a comforting book, then this is your read!

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