navneet.vyasan@htlive.com
Before Rusty, there was Ruskin. And for one, Ruskin’s life was no less exciting than Rusty’s. It is the early 1970’s and Ruskin is on a train to Bombay. What’s in his mind? Like others, it is not to marvel the city’s Gothic architecture. It is, funnily enough, The Arthur Road jail. “It was during the emergency. I had a story published and got an obscenity charge against me. A cop turned up in Mussoorie (Uttarakhand) with a warrant for my arrest. So, I had to come down to Bombay, of course, and appear in court here. This case dragged on for two years. I had to come down every now and then. Every time I came to Bombay, I kept thinking about landing up in Arthur Road Jail or in Nashik,” says the 85-year-old author. Although, he finds it funny after almost 45 years, he has the judge to thank for it. “I remember I stayed in YMCA, at Woodhouse Road. But thankfully, I got acquitted, and the judge said he’d enjoyed my story. Which was, believe me, nice to know,” he laughs.
That was the third time Ruskin arrived in the city. The first time, too, he says, was not really a memorable experience. Ruskin, then a young boy of 17, got a first-hand experience of the city’s murky motels. “I was a young boy and was very vague. It was 1951 and I was going to England. I arrived in Bombay by train and I had to get on a ship to England. In those days, everyone had to travel by sea and the air services really hadn’t got going,” he says, adding, “I had three days with me. I did not have much money, so I had to live in this very shady hotel in Lamington Road. It was awful. Anyway, I got through the whole three days somehow. And on the ship, once I got on-board, caught jaundice. I remember, when I arrived in England, I was all yellow.”
“Oh, don’t ask me about the second time,” he says, “I just remembered it!”
{{/usCountry}}“Oh, don’t ask me about the second time,” he says, “I just remembered it!”
{{/usCountry}}“This time around, it was a Polish ship,” he laughs, for it almost gave him “a heart attack”. Now, around 22 years old, Ruskin after having spent five years in England, was returning to India. “I remember, it kept having these emergencies and the sirens kept going off!” he says, adding, “People were somehow falling overboard from the ship. And then, finally, when it arrived at the shores of Bombay, the crazy ship caught fire!”
If that was not enough, the customs officer at the port, was waiting for him to make his trip worse. “I had bought some perfumes from Gibraltar, British Overseas Territory, for my mother. There was this horrible customs officer, who found them and took them all away,” he adds.
As madcap as his relationship is with the city, today, all these experiences make him smile. The author still has hopes that maybe one day, the city will be kind to him. “But I still enjoy walking around in Colaba eating fish and chips, and I keep visiting Leopold Cafe & Bar. So, anyway, one of these days, I would love to come to Bombay and have a great time,” he laughs.