Ruskin Bond rediscovers the simple pleasures the world forgets in his latest gem, Notes from a Small Room. Life gets funnier as you get older, the author tells FYI

On the cover of Notes from a Small Room, a Siamese cat looks meditatively back at a typewriter next to an open window. Inside, the genial author has assembled a collection of new essays and a few old favourites. They are rounded off with an apt: Thoughts on Reaching 75. In it, Ruskin Bond writes, "Happiness is as elusive as a butterfly, and you must never pursue it... contentment is easier to attain."



Brilliant musings like these is just one of the things in common with these essays, whether written yesterday or years ago. You will find in them a love of books, of kindly people, of the endless fascination of nature, of the wide-eyed wonder of children, of the sights, sounds and scents of a country that never runs out of surprises.

The cat reappears as an example to live by in A Year with Suzie. "I should have called the cat Souza," Bond says over the phone from his home in Mussoorie. "Suzie was five months old when I discovered that he was actually male. But he kept his girl's name for the rest of his time with me. Sometimes, I would find him curled up on my typewriter, reminding me that I have not been working regularly of late."u00a0

Yet, writer's block is something you'll never hear this prolific 75 year-old author complain about. "I never suffer from it. I have only to sit down at my desk for the words to come tumbling onto my writing pad. And if an ant moves across my desk, I shall record its transit," he says.

Notes From a Small Room by Ruskin Bond is published by Penguin and is available for Rs 225 at all major bookstores How do you like the new new mid-day.com experience? Share your feedback and help us improve. Read Next Story Crorepati classes, anyone?› Trending Stories Latest Photos Latest Videos Latest Web Stories ADVERTISEMENT Mid-Day Fast ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT