Ruskin Bond - You Are The Eternal Child!

By Vishakha Gazmer

We seek your shelter, dear eternal child,

For you are the essence of poems and tales.

From North and South- West and East,

You befriend all- the humans and the beast.

We seek your innocence, O sweet child, for you have introduced us to walking trees and birds in flight, and the kite-flying journeys and the curly clouds on heights.

We yearn for the little child in you,

Who longs for the sprawling branches and the silken dew,

Who teaches mankind to give nature a chance so fair-

To welcome the daylight and embrace the balmy air.

We crave for your gossip and chatter with the sweet peas, zinnias, dandelions, and the Marietta-

For the true companions to parley with are these colourful ones- who paint the canvas of our minds with happy hues nice and bright.

We seek refuge in your friendship - with secret tunnels and bazaars, and there we might find – Somu, Chotu, Ranbir, and Haripal… gorging on samosas and jalebi-

Dear writer on the hill, we too want to experience that great escape in a barsaati.

We plead for the shelter of your thoughts, in which the little Himalayan clouds pay you visit at dawn,

And at dusk- the green fairy lights beckon you to sleep,

While just down the Ivy Cottage road- passes a woodland fawn.

We beg – O dear Rusty- we beg to take refuge in the artistry of the strolling storyteller-

Who gathers children like his own and takes them along with the whistling thrush on a surreal adventure,

Through the forests of rhododendrons and pine, walking through the velvety green lanes of Pari Tibba, or the fragrant honeysuckle path-so fine-just so Fine!

Indeed – You are his favourite and her favourite and their favourite and mine-

You dwell in the souls of every book lover and have captured the mind.

Yes – dear Rusty – believe me; you are the forever eternal child!

By Vishakha Gazmer