It was when my family and I played Secret Santa last Christmas that my cousin gifted me my first Ruskin Bond book. I was excited to see the name of this author but was wondering if I could even read more than five pages as I am always very creeped out with anything haunted. I was still curious to know what the story was about.
The next day, I dared to read the book. After breakfast, I hopped on to my bunk bed and started reading it all morning. I knew I would get many nightmares if I read it at night.
Review
The Wind on Haunted Hill is set in the Himalayas. I remembered my teacher telling me that the Great Himalayas hadn’t been explored much so the setting made me anxious. I knew that there would be many scary elements in the story. Sure enough, the story begins with the mention of a Haunted Hill.
The main characters in the book are the children Usha, Suresh and Binya. Usha and Suresh are siblings while Binya is a friend. They live in a small village next to the Haunted Hill. The story begins when Usha’s and Suresh’s grandfather narrates to them legends about ghosts on the hill next to their village. Usha’s grandfather spoke about how British people lived on the hill a hundred years ago. Then during a terrible storm, one of the houses was hit by lightning and everyone in that house died. Now the children of that house roam in the ruins under the moonlight. Usha’s grandfather has seen these two children as ghosts many times while he was passing the haunted ruins.
Usha’s mother is very unwell and cannot go to the market to buy groceries. So the mother asks Usha to go and bring it. As she was trying to come home, there was a sudden storm. She had to pass through the ruins to reach home. Her shawl couldn’t hold the strong wind. So Usha decides to stay in the ruins and use it as shelter for the night. She is startled when she accidentally touches a wild cat. She is very frightened and crouches in a corner which offers some shelter from the wind and rain. The tin sheet roof makes loud noises which further scares Usha.
As she stands there frightened, she sees two small figures crouching near the unused fireplace. She remembers the story that her grandfather had narrated about children being ghosts. Usha’s heart skips a beat. She is certain that in front of her are two ghosts.
If you want to know what happens next, pick up the book!
My Thoughts
As a reader, I liked the characters of Usha and Suresh. Their sibling bond reminded me of the love I have for my sister. I wondered how I would take care of my little sister in case we got into a problem.
Ruskin Bond the author has described the plot very well but as a reader I felt the story was too descriptive. The climax turns out to be an anticlimax.
The suspense built when Usha entered the ruins was my favourite part of the book. It built a lot of anxiety and fear. I wondered what I would do if I was caught in a huge storm with no shelter and no light.
I had recently been to Mysore for a vacation and one evening after we returned to the hotel – there was a big rain storm. It was so heavy that it literally pushed all of us. The hotel security warned us not to stay outdoors as it was very unsafe. This event was like the scene from the book where the clothes and the roof were flying due to the strong wind on the hills.
On Page 15 of the book there are some descriptive paragraphs which are my favourite. Below is one of my favourite few lines from this page:
A sudden flash of lightning lit up the hill. The ruins stood out in clear relief. Then all was dark again. Night had fallen.
Though this is a good chapter book, the climax and the concluding paragraphs failed to sustain my interest as a reader. I was looking forward to some more thrilling, with drama, suspense and eeriness.
I look forward to reading more books by Ruskin Bond and similar chapter books.
Rating: 4.3/5
Precocious Vihaan 