The Story of Lost Friends
In the semi-autobiographical poem, ‘The Story of Lost Friends’, Ruskin Bond chronicles all the important incidents in his life which lead to friendship being made and then broken. In this poem he narrates a brief story of his childhood, of promises kept and broken, friends made and lost, joy and sorrow, set against the war years in India. The poem starts with him standing on the edge of the railway- cutting, looking for someone among the hundreds of people in the station and reminiscing. He remembers his dad, his very first friend and companion. He talks about the time when his father took him among the ruins of old forts and palaces, about the times he spent, together with his father. He relives the day when his father told him that he would take him to England when the war was over. ‘But wars are never over and I have yet to go to England…’.The first promise ever made to him was broken as his father died, and he was sent to live with his mother, who lived with her new husband. For the poet, the happy times were over. At the station, no one even came to pick him, and he roamed about, looking for his mother. When he finally saw her, he was given the excuse that she thought the train was late. His parents were social animals, regularly leaving him alone at home with only his baby brother and servants for company. For lack of activity, he kept reading books and his father’s letters over and over again. Finally, to combat his loneliness, he climbed up a guava tree to steal some guavas, where he met another boy. Initially, they fought over the guavas, but later they became friends. Together they used to explore the town, and one such exploration, they found a pool where they promised that when they grew up, they would meet each other, there. However, this, would be another broken promise. The poet remembers the day when they went to watch a movie, and since it was late he stayed at his friend’s house. It was the happiest day of his life.