By Kulbhushan Kain
As a Principal, I spent more time with students than with teachers and parents. It was not unusual to find them in my office most days. Sometimes they would come with a complaint, sometimes with a request (holidays on a rainy day!), sometimes they would come with sweets and toffees on their birthdays, and sometimes they would just come to give me a compliment (Sir, your talk in the Assembly was wow!). So, when Vaishnavi and Shubra came to my office in Delhi Public School at Ahmedabad one summer’s day in 2013 – it was nothing new.
Vaishnavi was clutching on to a book that I thought was a text reader for her class.
“Hello, come in. What brings you here?” I asked.
“Sir, I wanted to present you this book,” Vaishnavi said pointing to the book she was holding.
Ah! Yet again kids’ showing their gratitude for whatever little I did for them! School children are like that – they are affectionate and generous by nature and they want to do their bit in case they feel you have done something for them. They reflect magnanimity which is rare in the world of the adults.
“No, I don’t accept gifts from kids because they don’t earn. I keep repeating in the assembly that the only gift I want from students is hard work and honesty. Gift me a car when you start earning,” I said, laughing.
“But Sir, that’s going to take so long, this is from my pocket money,” she said with a disappointed look on her face.
“No, I am not going to accept a gift. And don’t worry I am not going to die in hurry. I will wait till you start earning,” I responded.
“Anyway, sit down – let’s talk,” I said.
Vaishnavi and Shubra sat down and we talked. Vaishnavi told me that she hailed from Saharanpur which is the adjoining district to Dehradun. She was absolutely over the moon that I knew so much about Saharanpur – about its furniture business, the ITC (Indian Tobbaco Company), the movie hall called ‘DARPAN’ – with a ‘D’ written backwards, about its ‘Kalmi’ mangoes and the vegetarian dhaba called ‘Barkat’.
Vaishnavi laughed and asked me whether I had heard of a place near Saharanpur called ‘Khatmalpur’. I corrected her and told her that it was not ‘Khatmalpur’, but Chhutmalpur! She was not aware that I belonged to Dehradun.
Her parents were hotel advisors. Shubra was from Jodhpur and very talkative. She told me, she wasn’t very fond Mahatma Gandhi “even though he is a historical celebrity”.
Both girls were extremely intelligent and interested in money.
“It’s nice to be rich. We like malls and shopping,” they said.
They also loved coming to school – a sign that the school was child friendly.
The conversation veered to film stars and politicians. Both of them liked Amitabh Bachchan. Shubra’s favourite actress was Madhuri Dixit. Vaishnavi’s was Kareena and, as an afterthought –‘Priyanka Chopra also!’ When I told them that I had met both of them, once in Mumbai, she asked, “Did they ask you for your autograph?”
Such sweet kids!
The chitchat went on for some time till I told them it was time they went back to class.
Vaishnavi looked at me and again requested, “Sir please accept this book. I asked ‘him’ especially to write something for you.”
My ears cocked up.
“Who is this ‘him?” I asked inquisitively.
With a twinkle in her eyes, she said, “Sir, Ruskin Bond!”
Everyone in Dehradun and Mussoorie knows and has seen Ruskin Bond! He is our favourite ‘son of the soil’. Everyone elsewhere has read him! Ruskin Bond is a legendary writer in these parts. When we were young, we would see him walking up and down the Mall or sitting and having a cup of tea at Jamuna Dhaba, just off Camel’s Back Road, or just chatting with everyone who approached him. For us, he was a celebrity much before the world discovered him.
I had heard that he was struggling a bit with his health. I asked Vaishnavi how he was.
“Did not look too well, sir. We had gone to invite him for a programme but he refused saying he was not well. Before we left, he asked someone to bring a big box of books and told me to choose any number of books from it. I chose three.”
She paused for a moment and then said, “I asked him to write something for ‘my Principal’ on this book. He wrote this for you.”
I took the book and had a look at it. It was a compilation of short stories written by him, called ‘Dust on the Mountain’. On its first page he had written very neatly, “Kulbhushan, My warm and good wishes. Ruskin Bond”.
The book not only brought back memories of Ruskin Bond but also of Mussoorie, the beautiful hill station just 21 miles away from Dehradun.
Vaishnavi looked at me.
“Sir, please accept it.”
I surrendered. I accepted the book with all humility.
Not only because Ruskin Bond had signed it, but also because Vaishnavi had thought about me in far off Mussoorie. It is more than just a book for me.
I hope Ruskin Bond is in good health. Everyone prays for him. Meanwhile, I also hope Vaishnavi has started earning and, if she reads this article, then I want to tell her, “Vaishnavi, I am waiting for the car!”
(Kulbhushan kain is an award winning educationist with more than 4 decades of working in schools in India and abroad. He
is a prolific writer who loves cricket, travelling and cooking. He can be reached at kulbhushan.kain@gmail.com)
