The Night Train at Deoli and Other Stories (India S.) - Softcover

Night Train at Deoli is a collection of 30 short stories of Ruskin Bond. The stories are simple and thought provoking and pertain to the time the author spent as a child and teenager in the foothills of Himalayas i.e Dehra and Mussorrie. Most of the stories run into 2 or 3 pages. There are a couple of them which were part of my English syllabus while I was studying in school. As Bond himself mentions in the preface of the book, his stories are not about espionage, mystery, suspense or murder. Rather these are simple stories of simple folk in the pure and unspoilt land of the hills, forests, the bazaars and its flora and fauna. Since I belong to the hills probabaly I can relate more to its little towns, villages and its folk. However this is precisely the message Bond tries to convey. i.e he will make you connect and feel the anguish, sorrow, pain and joy of mundane events which many of us do not even register in our minds. Admist the hustle and bustle of city life and its rat race, Ruskin Bond's stories are the perfect dose to make you think and ponder about the beauty hidden in the simplest of events. --DHIRAJ SHARMA Aug 13, 2012

A Sleepy Indian Railway Station, Natives waiting for the Night Train to Deoli, so, how's this a story? Just, open it & read on, the author fills it with the Magic of Life, in the poorest of the poor, the most mundane of circumstances............throbbing with the suspense, trials & tribulations, ofyet another day spent, in this country of a kind..!! That's Ruskin Bond for you!!!!!!!!!!!!! --Ritesh Shrivastav Nov 16, 2011

This was the first Ruskin Bond book that I bought and after that I've started collecting his books. This book has short simple stories...specially, stories of longing...stories which melt your heart. The book will be liked by those who love the simple things in life, those who love nature. I'm now a fan of Ruskin Bond --Vineet Gedam Mar 29, 2013

One story in the book is about a blind man, who is on a train to Dehradun. A girl enters his coupe and starts talking to him. He pretends that he is not blind and can see everything. He starts enjoying her company. He realizes that soon her stop would come and she will have to leave. He feels lost as he will never be able to know what she looked like, her hairstyle or the shade of color in her eyes. Or will he? Another story is about a gardener named Dukhi has been ordered by his Major Saab to cover a well. The well, however, holds very tender memories for Dukhi. He reminisces the times when his old master still used to be alive. When Major Saab returns, he notices that the well had not been covered up yet. The stories are mostly set in the hills and mountains of North India. This book is a splendid anthology of stories about the lives of everyday people. Ruskin Bond has a certain charm in his writing that makes readers love his stories. All the stories in the book depict a kind-hearted portrayal of loss, love, pain, accomplishment and struggle. The Night Train at Deoli and Other Stories was published by Penguin India in 2009. This book is available in paperback.