Rusty is a sixteen-year-old Anglo-Indian boy living in the European enclave of Dehra under the strict guardianship of Mr John Harrison, who forbids him to mix with Indians. Curiosity draws him into the bazaar, where he meets Somi, Ranbir and Suri, and discovers chaat, Holi colours and the warmth of friendship.
After a final quarrel with his guardian, Rusty leaves home and is offered a room on the roof of the Kapoor family's house in exchange for teaching English to their son Kishen. There he falls in love with Kishen's lonely young mother, Meena, and has to learn what independence truly costs.
Ruskin Bond wrote the novel at seventeen, partly from his own adolescence, and it won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize. Its simple, evocative prose and its picture of 1950s Dehra Dun introduced the Rusty stories that Bond would return to for decades, and it was adapted for Doordarshan as Ek Tha Rusty.
Book details
| Author | Ruskin Bond |
|---|---|
| First published | 1956 |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Literary fiction |
| Type | Fiction |
| Setting | Dehra (Dehradun), early 1950s |
| Awards | John Llewellyn Rhys Prize 1957 |
Themes
- Coming of age
- Belonging
- Friendship
- First love
- Anglo-indian identity
Who should read it
Teenagers and adults who enjoy gentle coming-of-age stories set in the hills of India.