The story of “Room on the Roof” follows Rusty, a 17-year-old boy without parents living in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, with his English tutors. Ruskin no longer wants to live with his English tutor due to his strictness.
SYNOPSIS OF THE ROOM ON THE ROOF BY RUSKIN BOND
Summary of The Room on the Roof By Ruskin Bond
“The Room on the Roof” is the first novel by the renowned Indian author Ruskin Bond, written at the age of 17. Originally published in 1956, it won the John Llewellyn Rhys Award in 1957. The story revolves around Rusty, a 17-year-old Anglo-Indian orphan boy, who lives with his guardians, Mr. John Harrison and Mrs. Harrison.
The second important character in the novel is Mr. John Harrison, a very strict Englishman who dislikes Indians and wants Rusty to stay away from them because he wants to raise him to be a complete Englishman. The third important character in the novel is Kishan, Rusty’s neighbor, who learns English from him daily.
The story begins with Rusty, a 17-year-old orphan boy, living with his guardian, Mr. John Harrison, in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. His guardians are very strict and dislike Indians. They don’t allow Rusty to live or play with Indians because they want to make him completely English.
Rusty doesn’t like living with his parents because their behavior makes him feel afraid of being Indian, and he wants freedom. One morning, while returning home during a light rain, he meets two boys named Somi and Ranbir, who help him by giving him a lift on his bicycle, and they become Rusty’s best friends.
When Mr. and Mrs. Harrison aren’t home, Rusty decides to go to the market with his best friends, Somi and Ranbir. After having fun with his best friends, Rusty returns home to find that his parents have returned early, and he is punished for going to the market.
The next day, he goes to play Holi with his best friends, Somi and Ranbir, and when he returns, he is once again punished for playing with his friends. This time, Rusty becomes angry and starts fighting with Mr. John Harrison. When Mr. Harrison’s wife arrives, he runs away from home.
For the first time in his life, Rusty cries outside the house all night, waiting for his best friend, Somi, to come and take him home in the morning, as he doesn’t want to return to his guardian’s house. In the morning, Somi arrives, takes him home, and helps Rusty get a job as an English teacher at Mr. and Mrs. Kapoor’s house.
Mr. and Mrs. Meena Kapoor hire him as an English teacher for their son, Kishan, and give him space to live freely on their terrace. Mr. Kapoor is an alcoholic who is 20 years older than his wife, Meena, and doesn’t care for her at all.
Rusty is attracted to Mrs. Kapoor because of her beauty, and Mrs. Meena Kapoor, in turn, is drawn to him because she feels a lack of attention for her wife. One day, Mr. and Mrs. Meena Kapoor travel to Delhi on personal business, and a few days later, Rusty receives the devastating news that Mr. and Mrs. Meena Kapoor have been in a car accident, killing Mrs. Meena.
Kishan and Rusty are devastated by the news of Meena’s death, deeply saddened and heartbroken by their loss. Mrs. Meena Kapoor’s death has left Rusty orphaned once again, and he now lives alone in his room on the rooftop. Rusty decides to seek help from the British Embassy and travel to England. Before leaving, he visits his friend Kishan, who lives with his aunt in Haridwar.
When he goes to Haridwar to meet Kishan, he learns that Mr. Kapoor has married another woman and no longer lives with them. When Rusty meets Kishan, he learns that he has chosen a life of crime and become a thief. Rusty advises him to give up his life of crime and theft because he doesn’t want to see him in jail, and suggests he start a new life in Dehradun. The next morning, Rusty and Kishan leave for Dehradun to start a new life together.
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