This gossip's not over the hill

When one sees a book set in the hills mdash Mussoorie no less mdash it is impossible to not think of Ruskin Bond and his writing Are you conscious of these comparisonsu00a0 Ruskin Bond is a good friend and therersquos no question about what an established writer he is He is a master at the craft and I have no qualms admitting that I and all other people in Mussoorie put him on a pedestal for what he brings to his work mdash and to Mussoorie mdash through his writing I think itrsquos all got to do with the focus he brings to his work mdash to fiction and hersquos great at that I can understand where the comparisons come from but my work is quite different from Bondrsquos I write about social history mdash people of the hills their gossip their idiosyncrasies mdash through the looking glassu00a0 It was in fact Bond who pressed me to start writing in the 1970s He became the editor of Imprint magazine and one day just said ldquoCome on now Go and write something Go just gordquo Many writers here owe their art to Bondrsquos encouragement But yes Bond came to Mussoorie in 1965 I was born here in 1948 So I have an advantage there hopefully Where did you draw your fiction from I think my first observations of the world around me come from my school days I studied in a small school in Mussoorie mdash we were 20 students thatrsquos how small it was My childhood was about chasing butterflies and observing how caterpillars turned into butterflies in a glass bowl It was noncompetitive just like magic I began teaching right after college and was a teacher for 40 years Even now I teach photography to students here As a young student you canrsquot help but notice one thing about your teachers mdash there are some who teach because thatrsquos the only thing they want to do and there are teachers who are there because nothing else worked out A student can always tell the difference I think I began observing over time scribbled a bit here and there and finally when it was time to write I found I had quite a lot to put down And what did you pick Everything mdash right from the lifeinabubble air of Mussoorie to itrsquos people who love to gossip and the businessmen who wait for those few months in a year to make a killing Everyone in Mussoorie knows everything about everyone You have someone over for lunch and everything about your guest mdash even if hersquos a complete stranger to the hills mdash will be known to the locals right from the reason behind the choice of colour of his car to what he likes eating most Your short stories are full of gossiping scandalous whimsical characters in Mussoorie mdash with names like Mrs Luscious and Mr Strutter Are they real Every character in the story is a blend of fourfive different characters and every incident is very close to reality Mrs Gossip for instance is many women in Mussoorie rolled into one Long ago I remember I met a lady during a walk who refused to let me move an inch until I hadnrsquot heard her scandalous tale I thoroughly enjoyed it but couldnrsquot in the name of God make out who she was speaking of Her gossip was so enjoyable that I wanted to know a stranger badly just enough to enjoy the tidbit doing rounds Why have you stuck only to the 1960s in Mussoorie Yes I dwell in the rsquo60shellipbecause I think whatrsquos happening in Mussoorie right now can come and go away anytime Therersquos honestly nothing much to write about in the present What can I say mdash people are focused being laid back is not an option mdash does that make for a good story I donrsquot think so We donrsquot have those characters today There was a man called Gambhir back then who for two whole years would come to the bus stand with a large horn and scream the dayrsquos most salacious gossip I still remember how he slurped tea at the stall near the bus station Locals had to treat him to avoid being featured in the lsquodaily newsrsquo Then there was a doctor Dr Massey whose claim to fame was the fact that his wife was a midwife He made a living out of simply wearing a white coat and a stethoscope around his neck and prescribing medicines he had no idea about He also proudly printed Bondrsquos landline number on his visiting card more than half of Mussoorie did that because Bond was the only person who had a telephone in Mussoorie back then Which bits of Mussoorie did you leave out Oh many Mussooriersquos ice wells were the stuff of legend back in the rsquo60s All the four big hotels here mdash The Savoy Hotel The Himalaya Club Charleville Hakmanrsquos mdash dug large 20 by 20 ft ice wells near their hotels and used them to store food and whiskey Of course they eventually disappeared because people built homes and shops over it all Then there was a lady here who began breeding Angora rabbits and her wool was really expensive So the men who worked in her factory began stealing the rabbits and selling them to locals In no time the whole of Mussoorie was breeding Angora rabbits without knowing a thing about the poor creatures Obviously the rabbits began shedding wool and the whole business was wiped out I think this can happen only in Mussoorie u00a0u00a0