Source - Amazon
“To be able to laugh and to be merciful are the only things that make man better than the beast”
-Ruskin Bond
Introduction
Book’s Name - Angry River
Author’s Name - Ruskin Bond
Genre - Fiction
Language - English
Publication Date - 1972
Book Review
Sita may be a little poor girl living together with her grandparents on an island that's located within the middle of the river, which originates from the high mountains and ends in the sea. During the season, the river turns gloomy and violent.
The last time it flooded the island was twenty years ago. However, her grandparents have lived here for over ten years now. This year, because the monsoon is on, the likelihood is that the island may get flooded.
The grandmother is ill and feverish, her condition deteriorating day by day. Thus, at some point grandfather takes her on a ship to the hospital of Shahganj. It has been raining heavily for many days. Sita is left alone on the island, where no people live. Their hut is the only hut on a rocky hillock.
When rain doesn’t stop and water begins entering the hut, Sita puts all-important clothes, ration, and items in the wooden trunk and hurriedly leaves the hut to perch on the peepal tree, which stands before the hut. In haste and panic, she forgets to place her doll Mumta, made from rugs, inside the trunk.
Now while sitting on a branch under the rain-dripping leaves, she is repenting for her doll. And soon as the water level rises, the doll flows away with the swift river currents.
From the tree, she observes that the river has caused havoc all around and village folks round the river are dislocated, items from houses and dead cattle can be seen flowing in the violent turbid river water.
The torrential rain submerges the hut on the island and weakens the peepal tree. The tree is close to divulge, as an upshot Sita shivers with the fear of falling within the river. But soon a boy on a boat comes to rescue her.
The boy offers her sweet mangoes and takes her to a village from where she manages to urge back to her grandfather in Shahganj. But before she leaves, he gives her his flute and promises that he will come for her.
Upon reaching the town of Shahganj, she realizes the death of her grandmother. She becomes sad, but all the more turns gloomy when she finds that her grandfather is feeling alone and forlorn in the absence of granny.
After three months, as the rain is over, they built their hut once again and the boy, Krishnan, comes to see her. The story is about hardship people face when caught within difficult situations, like floods or landslides.
However, Sita, the main character of the novel shows the good presence of mind and temerity to overcome the hurdles. In many senses, the story is about bravery, courage, loss of belongings, struggle, and surviving along with the ways of nature. Man cannot mold the ways of nature – it is too powerful to be controlled by anyone.
About the Author
Ruskin Bond is an Indian author of British descent. He spent most of his childhood in Dehradun together with his grandmother. All his works supported his own experiences while staying in Dehradun. His first novel was ‘The Room on the Roof’ and his first story was ‘Angry River’, which he wrote on his publisher’s request.
Among all Ruskin Bond books, Angry River is a beautifully written novella. The main theme of the story is nature. When nature causes havoc, humans find it tough to avert.
About the Book
Sita who is too innocent and out of worldly affairs to create any damage to nature, she who gets stuck with the ways of nature is concerning the voice of many. Sita’s story is depicted in this book.
It talks about how life within the rural provinces need to continue despite extreme calamities and the way people haven't any choice but to start out afresh after everything that they had has gone away forever.
It talks about how flippant nature is often – calm and peaceful one moment and seething with anger subsequent. It also talks about how strength of character needn't be an adult trait alone and about the unsaid but beautiful relationship between a grandchild and grandparents.
Personal Verdict
I feel the story is about hope and faith. Sita who has grown up near the river and hearing of its tale from the grandparents, was living a seemingly simple and happy life but it got disrupted by the flood but the girl continues to be hopeful.
She tries to survive, instead of panicking. The story, on its face, may be a simple one. There aren’t any unexpected twists and turns, and neither does the storyline involve one.
It’s engaging in its brevity too. There are just four or five characters throughout the story, but the main target is the lass and her struggle during the flood. Her innocence is well portrayed, as is that the incontrovertible fact that the stories she has heard is from her grandmother.
This successively is reflected in her imagination. I remember the stories of Krishna, Sita et al. from Indian mythology being shared with me by my grandmother as I used to be growing up. It’s an equivalent with Sita, which are some things beautiful.
The Bottom Line
I have learnt a very important lesson not to give up and move on with life however bad the situation is. It’s a book which makes you feel brave and think positively.
My ratings for the book - 4.5 on 5
Get you copy of the book from Amazon - Angry River
Written By - Resmita Barai
Edited By - Umme-Aiman
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