Letter to Ruskin Bond

An Ode to Shillong  - The sacred   forest of   Mawphlang (Khasi Hills) Image courtesy : Google images A large part of my life was spent in Shillong, a place I still call "home" when it comes to owning up my roots. I do not live there any more following the turns of events in my life.  I have been drawn to so many tales of people reminiscing about their growing up in Shillong , in Meghalaya   ; on how people have recalled their Shillong connect, tales of their lives- about the houses they lived in, the neighbors they had, the schools, the teachers. About the bright skylines, smell of the pine trees, Fetes in schools (where boys were treated with suspicion!). There has been a great deal of discussion on -Momo (pork momo for me please), how Squash was grown in the backyard jostling for space with Plums, Apricots and Nashpatis, Puja celebrations, Shidol (including the type of leaf it was best wrapped with!) and the Carts with ball bea...

                           A letter to Ruskin Bond Image courtesy - Google Dear Ruskin Bond,                                                At the outset, allow me the impertinence to address you as “Rusty” which is your pet name, so I guess. I love to think that having grown so close to you through your books, any other salutation would have been cold and impersonal. This is no letter for correcting my badly written manuscripts or penning a recommendation to some Publisher (I am no retired Army General in your neighborhood writing memoirs that no one wants to read!) You are at liberty to dismiss my letter as one of those typical junk mails from your myriad readers, but ...