ruskin bond looks back at an experience of facing a ___________ at his three-storied house
Answers
Synopsis
Ruskin Bond is an Indian author of British descent. He is a prolific writer whose works are popular with adults and children. He was born in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh. He did his schooling in Shimla. He has written several short stories and novels. He was awarded the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan.
In the story ‘A Face in the Dark’, Ruskin Bond has related a suspense incident set in the picturesque hills around Shimla. His fascination with the paranormal finds expression in this tale. He has made use of skilful elements for a horror story. The story has an equal amount of surprise, suspense and mystery to explore humanity’s collective fascination with the dark.
This story is based in Shimla and describes a thrilling experience. When we think of Shimla, we are reminded of beautiful and fascinating mountains and hills with scenic beauty. It is one of the best hill stations in India. Such places are renowned for their scenic appearances and stories and tales related to paranormal incidents. This story is a description of one such incident.
Through the story, the author asserts that even powerful people and non-believers of evil spirits go blank when confronted by strange and horrible situations. The story is set on a windy night when Mr Oliver, an Anglo-Indian teacher, is on his way back to school late one night. He takes a little detour and chooses to walk through the pine forest on his way back to the school after an evening at Shimla bazaar. He encounters a boy and this experience turns out to be one where there is no escape for Mr Oliver.
Let us go through the story in detail.
Mr Oliver used to teach in a school in Shimla. He is a bachelor who usually walks to the town in the evening. One day, Mr Oliver was returning to his school from the outskirts of the hill station and he got late. When he was returning, it became dark, and so he thought of taking a little detour from his route to school. He took a shortcut through the pine forest. As we think of the beautiful town of Shimla, it is filled with mountains, hills and woods. It became very dark by the time Mr Oliver was about to cross the pine forest. Whenever there is a strong wind or breeze, the pine trees make sad and terrible sounds that keep most of the people on the main road. But Oliver was not nervous or an imaginative man, so he took the narrow forest path. This also shows that he was very familiar with the area. He generally carried a torch along with him. It might be often that he got late or returned when it was dark. But this time as he was returning, there in the forest he saw a figure of a boy. He used his torch to infer that someone is present there. In the light of the torch, he found a boy sitting alone on a rock.
He could see the figure of the boy from a distance. Oliver stops and moves closer to the figure in order to recognise it. He was puzzled and worried that why a student or a boy was in the forest at this hour. Mr Oliver thought that all students are advised to stay inside the campus or at home during the dark. They were not supposed to be out and definitely not in the forest as it was not safe.
Oliver pondered what the boy was doing out in the dark, and so asked him what he was doing out there at that time. He sensed that something was wrong. The boy had seemed to be crying and his head hung down. He appeared to be holding his face between his hands and his body was shaking continuously. It was a strange soundless weeping and Mr Oliver felt uneasy. Despite these unusualities, Mr Oliver approached the boy. He kept asking the boy who he was and why was he out in the dark. The boy neither answered nor looked up but kept weeping continuously.
Oliver was worried about the fact that the boy is out at night. So he asked the boy why he was crying. The boy finally took his hands off from his face and looked up at the teacher. The torch from Mr Oliver’s hand falls down. The boy was not a normal one but some ghostly figure. The boy had no eyes, ears, nose or mouth. He just had a round, smooth head with a school cap on.
The torch fell from Mr Oliver’s trembling hands, and he runs down the path blindly through the trees calling and crying for help. He ran towards the school building and saw a lantern swinging in the middle of the path. Mr Oliver was petrified after the encounter with the faceless boy.
Answer:
- Encouraging young writers to try his “simple” style of writing, Ruskin Bond added, “I have always tried to achieve a prose that is easy and conversational. And those who think this is simple should try it for themselves.”