The fascination that a train kindles in a person with the grandeur in its appearance is a feeling everyone would have experienced from their childhood. The longing for the first train travel starts when a kid sees a train pass-by near their home or in a railway crossing and waves its hands - and the train never disappoints a passenger on his/her first train journey. Ruskin Bond's "The Great Train Journey" is a collection of short stories that have trains as the theme.
The picturesque landscapes that unfold on either side of the train are beautifully put into words in some of the stories here. The stories which have kids as the central characters instil a sense of nostalgia and take us back in time to revisit our childhood. The stories written here reach both extremes - a busy railway station bustling with regular activity and a deserted railway station which has mysteries to be unearthed. The stories where the protagonist tries to uncover the mysteries behind deserted railway stations remind us the times when we had wondered about the same. The sight of a train whistling and storming out of a tunnel might leave the readers longing to experience it, especially those who haven't witnessed it standing at the foot of a tunnel.
Ruskin Bond's characters are nothing short of reality and his stories are mere reflection of the day-to-day happenings around us. A railway station is where people from all strata of the society are seen and there are times when that stratification temporarily vanishes with conversations that happen during train travel. The train journey, the co-travellers, the conversations, the vendors who keep moving along the length of the train back and forth and the happenings that keep the long journeys engaging are portrayed brilliantly here.
Barring some repetitive themes, Ruskin Bond has given us a good collection of stories that will linger in our minds for a day or two. Few stories have something at the end that comes as a surprise and that makes this book a delightful read.
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