All Roads Lead to Ganga

The Ganges is a river, which has held India's heart captive and drawn uncounted millions to her banks since the dawn of history. Originating in the mist-filled valleys of the Garhwal Himalayas-a land of dense forests, icy white glaciers, clear gurgling streams and towering mountains-a land which has been known as 'Dev Bhoomi' or the land of gods, the Ganga traverses hundreds of miles through the heartland till it flows into the sea.

It this travel memoir, noted writer Ruskin Bond captures the breathtaking beauty and splendour of this magical landscape, describing with nostalgia and affection the places and people he has lived with and encountered for over forty years. In this engaging book, Bond provides a wonderfully evocative description of the mountain streams, the birds and animals. The wild flowers, the natural biosphere, the villages and dharmshalas, and the many shrines and places of pilgrimage-Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Jamnotri, nestled in the mighty mountains-all written with the touch of a poet. Bond takes us to his quaint little world of charm, portraying an untarnished landscape and exploring the Ganga in her pristine glory, at the confluence of the Alaknanda and the Bhagirathi.

From passionate descriptions about the pine and deodar trees in the hilly environs of northern India to plain reminiscences of the legendary 'Gun Hill' in Mussoorie, or vivid descriptions of birdsongs in the hills, Bond's sensitive and lucid style and an eye for ordinary details make this book a pleasurable read.

Ruskin Bond, well known as India's best loved and most prolific writers, has been writing novels, poetry, essays and short stories for almost half a century now. Apart from this, over the years he has expertly compiled and edited a number of anthologies. For his outstanding literary contribution, he was awarded the John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize in 1957, the Sahitya Akademi award in 1992 (for English writing in India) and the Padma Shri in 1999.