My Favourite Nature Stories

by Ruskin Bond

greatest activity. At dusk, the air seems to tinkle and murmur to their music. To the shrilling of the grasshopper is added the staccato notes of the crickets, while in the grass and on the trees, a myriad of lesser artists are producing a variety of sounds. As musicians, the cicadas

And which flower is most redolent of India? Not for me the lotus or the water-lily but the simple marigold, fresh, golden, dew-drenched, kissed by the morning sun.

sweltering

Little things stay with us, remain with us over the years. The sound of a broom, the small hand-broom, sweeping the steps or verandah takes me back to that distant but vivid childhood, and the thin dark woman who swept the bungalow’s rooms and verandah.

And you, dear reader, will have similar impressions to carry with you all your days. That first day at school, maybe an agonising parting from your parents. The face of a loved one lost. A pullover knitted by your granny. A favourite toy. A doll, perhaps. A book of rhymes, tattered and torn. Someone who gave you a flower, a kiss on the forehead. To the end of your days you will carry that kiss with you. And may it protect you from all harm.

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