Encounters on Moving Trains

Ruskin Bond's stories often begin with a journey—trains slicing through the Indian landscape, carrying strangers into fleeting intimacy. In "The Eyes Have It," a blind narrator shares a compartment with a girl, both concealing and revealing their vulnerabilities. Their conversation is light, yet charged with the possibility of connection. The narrator, blind but perceptive, tries to hide his blindness, only to discover at the end that the girl, too, is blind. In "The Night Train at Deoli," a young man's heart is captured by a basket-selling girl at a lonely station. Their brief encounters, marked by silence and shy smiles, become the stuff of memory and longing. These train journeys are metaphors for the transient, unpredictable nature of love—moments that pass quickly but leave indelible marks.

Fleeting Glances, Lasting Impressions

Bond's protagonists are often haunted by the people they meet only once or twice. The girl at Deoli, for instance, becomes a symbol of all that is beautiful and unattainable. The narrator never learns her fate, but her memory lingers, shaping his understanding of love as something both precious and elusive. In "Time Stops at Shamli," a chance decision to step off a train leads to a day spent in a small town, where the past and present intermingle. The people he meets—eccentric, lonely, or quietly content—remind him that every encounter, no matter how brief, can change the course of a life.

Friendship's Fragile Foundations

In "Tribute to a Dead Friend," Bond explores the complexities of friendship, rivalry, and affection. The narrator's relationship with Thanh, a Vietnamese student in London, is marked by both camaraderie and competition, especially when a woman comes between them. The story reveals how love and friendship can be inseparable, how jealousy and admiration often coexist, and how the loss of a friend can feel as profound as the loss of a lover.

Love's Bittersweet Song

"Love Is a Sad Song" is a meditation on the pain and beauty of loving someone who is just out of reach. The narrator's affection for Sushila, a much younger girl, is both passionate and paternal, filled with longing and restraint. Their relationship unfolds in the hills, amidst streams and wildflowers, but is shadowed by societal expectations and the inevitability of separation. Bond captures the ache of loving someone you cannot fully have, and the way such love can shape a life.

Waiting at Lonely Stations

Stations like Deoli and Shamli become metaphors for waiting—not just for trains, but for love, answers, and closure. The narrator's repeated journeys through Deoli, always hoping to see the basket girl again, reflect the human tendency to wait for the return of lost love. In Shamli, time seems to stand still, and the past is always just around the corner. These places of transit become sites of emotional stasis, where hope and nostalgia intermingle.

The Girl Who Vanished

The motif of the vanished beloved recurs throughout Bond's stories. Whether it's the girl from Deoli, Binya from the hills, or Kamla from the balcony garden, their absence becomes more powerful than their presence. The search for these lost figures—sometimes literal, sometimes emotional—drives the narrator's actions and reflections. Their disappearance is never fully explained, leaving the reader, like the narrator, suspended in uncertainty.

Unrequited and Unfinished

Bond's love stories rarely end in union. Instead, they are marked by waiting, missed opportunities, and the acceptance of unfulfilled longing. In "A Love of Long Ago," the narrator recalls a youthful romance that never blossomed, yet remains vivid decades later. The inability to possess or complete a love story becomes, paradoxically, its source of enduring power.

The Magic of Small Moments

Bond's writing is suffused with the magic of everyday life—shared meals, walks in the hills, the scent of honeysuckle, the touch of a hand. These small moments, often overlooked, become the foundation of his characters' emotional lives. Love, for Bond, is not always grand or dramatic; it is found in the quiet, persistent presence of another, in the rituals and rhythms of daily existence.

Ghosts, Fairies, and Memories

Stories like "Topaz" and "On Fairy Hill" introduce elements of the supernatural—ghosts, fairies, and mysterious lights. These are not just flights of fancy, but expressions of the narrator's longing for connection, transcendence, and escape from loneliness. The boundaries between reality and imagination blur, suggesting that love itself is a kind of magic, capable of haunting and transforming us.

The Many Faces of Love

Bond's stories encompass a wide spectrum of love: romantic, platonic, familial, and even love for nature and place. There are tales of passionate affairs, unspoken crushes, deep friendships, and the quiet devotion of caring for a child or a garden. Each form of love is treated with tenderness and respect, revealing its unique joys and sorrows.

Nature's Embrace and Solitude

The hills, forests, and streams of Bond's world are more than backdrops—they are active participants in his characters' emotional journeys. Nature offers solace, inspiration, and sometimes, a sense of belonging that human relationships cannot provide. The changing seasons, the songs of birds, and the play of light and shadow all echo the inner lives of the characters, reinforcing the connection between love and the natural world.

The Weight of Waiting

Many of Bond's narrators are defined by their capacity to wait—sometimes for years, sometimes forever. Whether waiting for a lover's return, a change in fortune, or simply the right moment, this patience is both a source of strength and a cause of suffering. The act of waiting becomes a form of love in itself, a testament to the enduring power of hope.

Love Lost, Love Remembered

As time passes, love often becomes a matter of memory rather than presence. The narrator's recollections of past loves—some joyful, some painful—are tinged with nostalgia and regret. Yet these memories are not merely sources of sadness; they are also affirmations of life's richness and the capacity to feel deeply.

The Unattainable Beloved

Throughout the stories, the beloved is often just out of reach—separated by age, circumstance, or fate. This unattainability heightens desire and transforms love into longing. The pursuit of the beloved, even when doomed to failure, becomes a way of giving meaning to life.

The Game of Hope

Bond's characters often choose to keep hoping and dreaming, even when reality offers little encouragement. The refusal to "break journey" at Deoli, for example, is a way of preserving the possibility of reunion, however unlikely. Imagination becomes a refuge, allowing love to survive in the face of disappointment.

The Mystery of Others

Despite moments of intimacy, Bond's stories acknowledge the fundamental mystery of other people. The inner lives of lovers, friends, and even strangers remain partly hidden, their motives and feelings never entirely clear. This mystery is both a source of frustration and fascination, fueling the narrator's longing and curiosity.

The Enduring Power of Longing

Ultimately, it is longing—more than fulfillment—that defines Bond's characters. Their yearning for connection, understanding, and beauty gives shape to their lives, driving them to write, remember, and hope. Love, in Bond's world, is less about possession than about the willingness to keep longing, even in the face of loss.

Where Love Begins

In the end, Bond suggests that love is not just an emotion, but a way of being in the world—a readiness to be touched, changed, and even wounded by beauty, kindness, and connection. Whether directed at people, places, or the natural world, love is what gives life its meaning and magic. As Bond writes, "where love begins, there is the border of heaven."

Characters

The Narrator (Ruskin Bond)

The narrator, often a thinly veiled version of Bond himself, is a gentle, introspective figure who moves through the world with curiosity and vulnerability. He is both participant and observer, drawn to beauty, kindness, and the possibility of connection. His relationships are marked by longing, patience, and a willingness to embrace both joy and sorrow. He is shaped by his past, haunted by memories, and sustained by hope. His love for people is matched by his love for nature, and he often finds solace in the hills, forests, and streams that surround him. Over time, he learns to accept the impermanence of love, finding meaning in the act of loving itself rather than in its fulfillment.

Sushila

Sushila is the narrator's beloved in "Love Is a Sad Song" and "Time Stops at Shamli." She is young, beautiful, and both innocent and wise beyond her years. Her presence brings joy and inspiration, but also awakens the narrator's anxieties about age, propriety, and the future. Sushila is both responsive and elusive, capable of deep affection but also bound by family and tradition. Her eventual marriage to another man is a source of pain, but her memory remains a source of comfort and longing for the narrator.

The Girl from Deoli

The basket-selling girl at Deoli station is a figure of mystery and allure. Her brief encounters with the narrator are marked by silence, shyness, and unspoken understanding. She represents the possibility of love that is never fully realized, and her disappearance becomes a metaphor for all that is unattainable in life. She is less a fully developed character than a symbol of longing and the power of memory.

Thanh

Thanh, the Vietnamese student in "Tribute to a Dead Friend," is both charismatic and deeply insecure. He is critical, lonely, and searching for perfection in others, yet unable to find it in himself. His friendship with the narrator is marked by both affection and rivalry, especially when a woman comes between them. Thanh's early death is a reminder of the fragility of life and the complexity of human relationships.

Binya

Binya, the hill girl in "Binya Passes By," is a symbol of innocence, freedom, and the untamed beauty of the natural world. Her interactions with the narrator are playful, sensual, and unselfconscious. She is both real and otherworldly, a figure who belongs more to the forest and mountains than to human society. Her eventual disappearance leaves the narrator bereft, but also enriched by the memory of their connection.

Pramod

Pramod, Sushila's other admirer, is a gentle, vulnerable young man whose love for Sushila mirrors the narrator's own. Their rivalry is marked by mutual respect and shared uncertainty, highlighting the universality of longing and the impossibility of fully possessing another person's heart.

Leela

Leela, the neighbor's wife, is a strong, practical woman who takes an active interest in the narrator's life. She is both nurturing and assertive, pushing the narrator toward marriage and stability. Her eventual marriage to the narrator is less a matter of passion than of companionship and mutual respect, illustrating the many forms love can take.

Susanna

Susanna, the "seven times married one," is a legendary figure whose life and rumored crimes become the subject of local lore. She embodies the dangers and mysteries of love—its capacity to enchant, destroy, and outlast death. Her story is both cautionary and fascinating, a reminder of love's darker possibilities.

Hameeda

Hameeda, the girl in "Topaz," blurs the line between reality and fantasy. Her relationship with the narrator is tender and dreamlike, culminating in her mysterious disappearance and the revelation that she may have been dead all along. She represents the persistence of love beyond the boundaries of life and death.

Ulla

Ulla, the Danish girl in "The Girl from Copenhagen," is a symbol of youthful spontaneity and the joy of living in the moment. Her brief stay with the narrator is marked by laughter, sensuality, and a lack of promises. Their relationship, though short-lived, is complete in itself, illustrating the beauty of love that asks nothing of the future.

Plot Devices

Framing Through Journeys and Places

Bond uses train journeys, hill stations, and small towns as both literal and metaphorical frameworks for his stories. These settings are places of transition, waiting, and possibility, reflecting the emotional states of the characters. The act of traveling becomes a way of encountering the unknown, both in others and in oneself.

The Motif of Waiting and Longing

Many stories revolve around the act of waiting—at stations, in rooms, or in the heart. This waiting is both painful and sustaining, allowing love to persist even in the absence of fulfillment. The open-endedness of these stories invites the reader to share in the narrator's hope and uncertainty.

Use of Nature as Mirror and Refuge

The natural world is ever-present in Bond's writing, serving as a mirror for the characters' emotions and as a refuge from disappointment. The changing seasons, the songs of birds, and the play of light and shadow all reinforce the themes of impermanence, renewal, and the interconnectedness of love and life.

Supernatural and Magical Realism

Ghosts, fairies, and unexplained phenomena appear throughout the stories, blurring the line between reality and imagination. These elements are not just decorative, but serve to express the characters' deepest longings and fears, suggesting that love itself is a kind of enchantment.

Nonlinear, Episodic Structure

The book is structured as a series of loosely connected stories, memories, and reflections rather than a single, linear plot. This episodic approach mirrors the way love and memory work—fragmented, recursive, and often unresolved. The lack of closure is both a source of frustration and a testament to the enduring power of longing.

Irony and Self-Awareness

Bond's narrators are often self-deprecating, aware of the absurdities and follies of love. This irony prevents the stories from becoming overly sentimental, allowing for a more nuanced and realistic portrayal of human emotion.

Analysis

"Falling in Love Again" is a masterful meditation on the many forms and faces of love—romantic, platonic, familial, and even the love of nature and memory. Ruskin Bond's stories are united by a sense of longing, the ache of unfulfilled desire, and the beauty found in fleeting moments and small gestures. The book suggests that love is less about possession or fulfillment than about the willingness to hope, wait, and remember. Through his gentle, observant prose, Bond invites readers to embrace the impermanence of life and the inevitability of loss, finding meaning not in happy endings but in the act of loving itself. In a world marked by change and uncertainty, love—however brief or incomplete—remains the border of heaven, the source of all that is magical and meaningful.

Last updated: May 20, 2025