Angry River

Angry River is a 1972 children's novel by Indian author Ruskin Bond illustrated by Trevor Stubley. It was published in India and England and translated into Dutch, French, and Hindi.

Plot summary

Angry River is a children's novel by Ruskin Bond. The story is about Sita, a girl who lives with her grandparents in a hut on an island. One of the walls of their hut leans against a rock and the other three walls are made of mud. They lead a very simple lifestyle. While her grandfather works outside, Sita and her grandmother work in the house. Suddenly, Sita's grandmother becomes extremely ill and Sita's grandfather plans to take her grandmother to the hospital in town. He leaves in a boat with three of his goats and tells Sita that he will be back in a few days. He also warns her of the rain, saying that it might cause a flood and that if the level of the water goes very high, she must climb the big peepal tree on the island.

Soon, it begins to rain heavily. Sita goes outside and realizes that there is a flood that looks like a raging river. She sees a few things floating around her in the water. She hurriedly packs some spices, fish, some of her grandmother's things and she forgets about her dear doll, Mumta. Then she climbs the peepal tree and finds a crow as her companion. Then, the tree suddenly gets uprooted in the stormy rain and takes Sita afloat on the river. On the way, Sita sees the tantrum caused by the tumultuous rain and realises the misery of her fellow beings. The tree suddenly turns to the midstream of the river which makes Sita feels scared. A boy named Krishan meets her and takes her along with him on his boat. He rows the boat hard to get away from the midstream. Once the two are out of danger, the boy introduces himself as Krishan. They ate mangoes that were on the boat. Never before did Sita eat mangoes that were as sweet as the ones Krishan had offered. Sita later comes to know that her grandmother had died and she returns to the island with her grandfather to build a new house and continue life without her doll Mumta and her grandmother. Afterwards, Krishan visits Sita and teaches her how to play the flute he had earlier gifted Sita.

Literary assessment

Meena Khorana in her study of Ruskin Bond's life and works cites Angry River as an example of his works' rootedness in the culture and traditions of India.