“Those who don’t read are missing life’s rewards”– Ruskin Bond

The Bhawanipur Education Society College organised a book reading session in the library on October 12th, 2023 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The session was hosted by Prof. Champa Srinivasan, Prof. Vasundhara Mishra, and Prof. Sohel Ahmed. The book reading session was attended by around 100 students and a few teachers from various departments of the college. The book reading session started with a brief description given about the renowned author, Ruskin Bond. One of the students Ujjwal Karamchandani quoted a few lines from Ruskin Bond at the beginning of the session and invited the Rector and dean of Student Affairs, Prof. Dilip Shah who talked about the achievements of the famous author and praised the team members of ‘Back to Shamli’, a play inspired by the stories of Ruskin Bond. The objective of the book reading session was to encourage students to read more and develop their ability to interpret the things they read. A few students shared their experience of reading the stories of Ruskin Bond. Kasis Shaw, a student from the English Department narrated the famous story, ‘The Blue Umbrella’ and conveyed the idea that whatever you give with selfless love never goes unnoticed, it returns to us in some way or the other. A team member from the ‘Back to Shamli’, Devang Nagar eloquently spoke about the impact of the stories of Ruskin Bond on the readers and alluded to the fact how reading his stories makes us feel that we are a part of it. Prof. Sohel Ahmed read out a famous story by Ruskin Bond named ‘The Eyes Are Not Here’ which amused the attendants with its hidden morals and its witty and simplistic writing style. Prof. Subhasish Dasgupta read a fascinating tale that bemused the young listeners with its ambiguous and inconclusive ending. He expatiates the power of imagination and how one’s imagination is free to move from one place to another without moving at all in real space or time and reading Bond’s stories enables us to do that. Many students interpreted the story in different ways and expressed their thoughts exquisitely with deep understanding. Few teachers spoke about how Ruskin Bond stories deliver moral lessons to their readers. One of the teachers mentioned that the story ‘The Blue Umbrella’ was adapted into a film and received the National Film Award for Best Children’s Film. Another film, 7 Khoon Maaf is an adaptation of the short story “Susanna’s Seven Husbands” by Ruskin Bond was mentioned by one of the students which is an astounding allegory of envy, gluttony, wrath, and desire for love. The book reading session ended with the valuable feedback shared by the students and a thank you note was delivered to the attendants for attending the book reading session and for their active participation. Reporter – Kasis Shaw Photographer – Agrag Ghosh