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Ruskin Bond has always been one of my favourite authors. I started reading his books when I was six years old, and one of my all-time favourites is The Blue Umbrella. I was astounded when I found out that we are both Indian.
Bond wrote his first novel, The Room on the Roof, when he was 17 and won the John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize for it. How a 17-year-old achieved such a grand feat is jaw-dropping.
The Blue Umbrella is set in the Himalayas, where a girl called Binya meets an English lady who wants her leopard claw pendant. She trades the pendant for a bright silk blue umbrella. In her small village, the umbrella soon becomes envied by many.
A shopkeeper sends his staff to steal the umbrella, but Binya’s brother, Bijju, catches the thief. The story soon becomes known around the village, so no one visits the shop.
Binya feels sorry for the shopkeeper and thinks that she has started to value the umbrella over people, so she gives the umbrella to the shopkeeper as a gift.
In return, the shopkeeper becomes very fond of Binya and gives her a locket of a bear’s claw, which is supposed to be lucky. Over time, they become best friends.
This is a great book, and I recommend that everyone read it, regardless of their age.
