Book review ( "Angry River" by Ruskin Bond)

"Angry River" 

by Ruskin Bond

Ruskin Bond is an octogenarian contemporary writer. Being a versatile writer, he has tried his hand in various genres ranging from novels, short stories, novellas and poems in English. "The Angry River" is one among his novellas.

It is typical of Bond to create down-to-earth characters who can be seen in daily life and are easily relatable. "The Angry River" deals with people living in the lap of nature— Sita, a little girl who lives in a secluded island with her grandparents on the bank of a river. As she has no one else to share her secrets with, she herself makes a doll with her grandma's help, out of quilts and names her Mumta. 

She leads a carefree life by spending most of her time taking care of her sickly grandparents and doing chores—cooking, milking the goats and taking care of the chickens. 

Once when her grandma's health deteriorates, her grandpa has to take her to Shahgunj, a faraway village across the river, leaving Sita behind to gaurd the house and belongings. 

It is the first time in last twenty years that the river floods and batters the entire island. When it rains incessantly, Sita does everything she can to safeguard as many things as possible and climbs onto the peepal tree which stands firm supporting her hut. When finally the tree also succumbs to the heavy flow of the water and falls down, she is trapped in a predicament. 

The novella gives us the glimpses of the day, Sita has to spend in dangerous isolation. The plot unfolds whether or how Sita is saved. 

Bond's masterful story narration lets us travel with Sita whose life is entwined with nature. She is delighted even to find a crow, perching on branch when she is caught along during the flood. 

Each reader admires her raw innocence— her craving for a companion, her hatred towards loneliness, her longing to be safe. 

Even during the times of uncertainty, when she is perched on the branch witnessing her doll drift by, she feels, "If I can be careless with someone I've made, how can I expect the gods to notice me, alone in the middle of the river?" It shows Sita's guilt for not having been able to save her only companion. 

The book also highlights how the lives of the villagers are merged with nature. Despite being angry and disastrous on occasions like that, the river is everything for them without which their life is incomplete.

In short it is a short story elongated to the size of a novella with vivid picturization that can be read in a single sitting.