Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra
 First edition | |
| Author | Ruskin Bond |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Short stories |
| Published | 1991 |
| Publisher | Penguin India |
| Publication place | India |
| ISBN | 9780140169027 |
| OCLC | 26361931 |
Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra is a collection of 14 semi-autobiographical stories written by Ruskin Bond.[1] The book largely discusses the author's childhood experiences in Dehradun, India, although the setting differs between stories. It was published in 1991.[1] In recognition of this book, Bond was awarded the Sahitya Academy Award in 1992.[2]
Summaries
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As this is a publication of several independent short stories, several distinct and largely unrelated plots occur in each.
Escape from Java is war fiction about a nine year old boy's escape from the island of Java during the Japanese invasion, sometime during World War II.[3]
The Bent-Double Beggar revolves around the narrator's encounter with Genpat, a beggar with a crooked back. He provides a story for what gave him the disability, as well as an assorted collection of proverbial teachings.
Untouchable is a very short account of a ten year old boy's fear of insects and a brief moment of friendship he shares with an "untouchable". Bond wrote this story when he was sixteen.[1]: 27
Reception
[edit]As per India Today, "Like Dom Moraes, Bond is completely at ease with British-English idiom: he describes descending train passengers as 'debouching'. Yet his precise and reflective prose is closer to Jim Corbett's in being more homegrown: he speaks of khuds, langurs and rustic Pahadi friends."[4]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Bond, Ruskin (1991). Our trees still grow in Dehra. New Delhi; New York, N.Y., U.S.A.: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-016902-7. OCLC 26361931.
- ^ "Akademi Awards (1955–2024)". Sahitya Akademi. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
- ^ "Book Review: Escape from Java by Ruskin Bond". 19 June 2017. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
- ^ "Book review: Ruskin Bond's 'Our Trees Still Grow In Dehra'". India Today. 24 June 2013. Retrieved 2023-06-23.