The Night Train at Deoli
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR
Ruskin
Bond is a well-known author in India. He writes in a plain and direct way. His
words come from life
in the North Indian hills. His simple language and honest tone have
earned him a loyal following.
Introduction
to “An Astrologer’s Day” by R.K. Narayan
From the first
lines, the story shows the calm of traveling. Imagine a long journey with
every station offering an opportunity—a meeting, a memory, or a moment that
soon passes. Ruskin Bond creates a mood that is both gentle and hopeful. The
story still feels real to anyone who has experienced a brief, unexpected
connection.
(যুবকের পরিবার বা পরিস্থিতি সম্পর্কে আমরা খুব কমই জানি, আমরা তার মধ্যে
নিজেকে দেখতে পাই। আমরা সবাই কল্পনার মতো প্রেমের মুহূর্তগুলি মনে
রাখি; এমন
একজন ব্যক্তির প্রতি তীব্র আকর্ষণের অনুভূতি যা আমরা খুব কমই জানি। আমাদের কল্পনায়
কাউকে গড়ে তোলা কেমন তা আমরা জানি। বর্ণনাকারী কখনই সেই স্থানের বাইরে যান
না। তিনি কখনই কাজ করেন না এবং এর কারণে তিনি অনুশোচনায় ভরা। কারণ বন্ডের
বর্ণনাকারী এক ধরনের "প্রত্যেক মানুষ", পাঠকদের পক্ষে তার প্রতি সহানুভূতি করা
সহজ।)
Key characters 
1. The Narrator (The Young Man)
- He is kind,
emotional, and romantic.
- He believes
in love and destiny.
- He thinks
about the girl for a long time, even though he does not
know anything about her.
2. The Girl
- She is quiet,
graceful, and mysterious.
- She has dark,
troubled eyes, which show she
has a deep story inside her.
- She does not speak much, but her silence is powerful.
- She waits
on the platform, alone, just like the narrator keeps waiting for
her in his heart.
The Setting of the Story
Understanding the
background helps us see the story better. The tale is set in pre-modern India,
a time when the railway was more than just transport. It symbolized a mix of
modern ideas and old traditions. Bond’s own travel experiences add truth to the
fleeting moments he writes about.
(পটভূমি বোঝা আমাদের গল্পটি আরও ভালভাবে দেখতে সাহায্য করে। গল্পটি প্রাক-আধুনিক
ভারতে সেট করা হয়েছে, এমন একটি সময় যখন রেলপথ কেবল পরিবহনের চেয়ে
বেশি ছিল। এটি আধুনিক ধারণা এবং পুরানো ঐতিহ্যের মিশ্রণের প্রতীক। বন্ডের নিজের
ভ্রমণের অভিজ্ঞতাগুলি সে যে ক্ষণস্থায়ী মুহুর্তগুলি সম্পর্কে লিখেছে তাতে সত্য
যোগ করে।)
**At
its core, “The Night Train
at Deoli” describes a chance meeting at a quiet station. The
traveler sees a young woman during a stop at Deoli. Her image stays with him
and becomes a symbol of a moment that is now gone. The narrative mixes careful
observation with personal reflection.
(এর মূল অংশে, "দেওলিতে রাতের ট্রেন" একটি শান্ত স্টেশনে
একটি সুযোগ মিটিং বর্ণনা করে। দেওলিতে থামার সময় ভ্রমণকারী এক তরুণীকে
দেখেন। তার চিত্র তার সাথে থাকে এবং একটি মুহুর্তের প্রতীক হয়ে ওঠে যা এখন
চলে গেছে। আখ্যানটি ব্যক্তিগত প্রতিফলনের সাথে সতর্ক পর্যবেক্ষণকে মিশ্রিত করে।)
SYMBOLISM
**young woman
at Deoli symbolize**
The young woman symbolizes transient beauty, fleeting opportunities,
and the bittersweet nature of lost chances.
**role does
the Deoli station play**
The
Deoli station serves as a symbol of solitude, forgotten places, and the
transient nature of both life and memory.
**The Train = Life’s Journey**
The
train never stops for long. Just like in real life, time keeps moving
forward, and we cannot hold on to everything we love.
**literary device does
Ruskin Bond use to depict life’s journey in the story**
The train is used as a metaphor for life’s
journey, with the stops symbolizing moments of pause, reflection, and fleeting
connections .
VARIOUS THEME
1. Love at First Sight
The narrator sees the girl only twice, but
he feels a strong emotion for her. He does not know her name, but
her eyes and silence touch his heart. This shows that love is not
just about words—sometimes, feelings can be stronger than words.
2. Longing and Waiting
The narrator keeps thinking about the girl.
He passes through Deoli many times, hoping to see her. But he never
stops to search for her. This shows how sometimes we keep waiting for
something, even when we know it may never come back.
3. Fear of the Truth
The narrator wants to know what happened to
the girl, but he is also scared. Maybe she is not there anymore.
Maybe she is married or something bad happened. He never
gets off the train at Deoli because he does not want to face the
truth. This shows how sometimes we choose dreams over reality.
4. The Beauty of Unfinished Stories
The story does not have a clear ending. We never
find out what happened to the girl. But this makes the story beautiful.
Not all stories need an ending—sometimes, the mystery is more powerful than the
answer.
SUMMARY
The narrator used to visit his grandmother in
Dehra during his summer holidays. On his way, his train always stopped at a
small, quiet station called Deoli. The train stopped there for ten minutes, but
no one ever got on or off. The narrator always wondered about this lonely
station.
One day, when he was 18 years old, he saw a
young girl on the platform. She was selling baskets. She was barefoot, wearing
old clothes, but she had quiet dignity. The narrator was captivated by her
dark, troubled eyes. She stopped near his train window, and they looked at each
other silently. Later, he bought a basket from her. As the train left, he saw
her standing alone, smiling at him.
For the next two months, he forgot about her.
But when he traveled back, he felt excited to see her again. When the train
reached Deoli, he saw her on the platform. She smiled when she saw him, and he
was happy that she remembered him. This time, she did not sell baskets but came
directly to him. They did not speak much, but their silence was filled with
emotions. The narrator wanted to take her with him, but he could not. When the
train started to leave, he held her hand for a moment but then had to run back
to the train.
After this meeting, he could not forget her. When
his college ended, he eagerly traveled back to Deoli, hoping to meet her. But
she was not there. He felt sad and asked the station-master about her, but he
did not know anything. He even asked the tea seller, who told him that she had
stopped coming. When he asked why, the tea seller did not care.
The narrator wanted to stay in Deoli and find her, but
he never did. He was afraid to know the truth—maybe she had left, maybe she was
married, or maybe something bad had happened. He preferred to keep dreaming and
hoping that one day he would see her again. Even though he passed through Deoli
many times, he never stopped there. He only looked out of the train window,
searching for her face, but never finding her again.
Moral of the
Story: 
Sometimes, in life, we meet people who leave a
strong impact on us, but we may never see them again. Some things remain a
mystery, and some stories never get an ending.
Easy
Summary
‘The
Night Train at Deoli’ by Ruskin Bond is a heart-touching short
story about first love, nostalgia, and unfulfilled desires. The story
follows a young man who travels by train from Delhi to Dehradun, stopping
briefly at Deoli station every time.
One day, he
sees a young girl selling baskets at the station. Her beauty and
loneliness captivate him. They share a few words, and he feels a deep emotional
connection. However, he realizes that their relationship has no future. When he
returns, hoping to see her again, she is gone. The girl disappears from his
life, leaving him with only memories and longing. * This story beautifully captures the
pain of lost love and the way some moments stay in our hearts forever. It
teaches us that not all relationships are meant to last, but their impact
can be unforgettable. *
গল্পের
সারসংক্ষেপ (সহজ ভাষায়):
গল্পের
প্রধান চরিত্র একজন তরুণ, যিনি ছুটির সময় দিল্লি থেকে দেরাদুনে ট্রেনে ভ্রমণ করতেন। তাঁর ট্রেন মাঝপথে দেওলি স্টেশনে কিছু সময়ের জন্য থামত। এই ছোট্ট স্টেশনটিতে একদিন তিনি এক কিশোরী মেয়েকে দেখতে পান, যিনি বাসন্তী রঙের পোশাক পরে ট্রেনের কাছে মালা
বিক্রি করছিলেন। মেয়েটির সৌন্দর্য এবং একাকীত্ব তাঁকে আকর্ষণ করে, এবং তিনি তাঁর প্রতি এক গভীর আবেগ অনুভব করেন।
প্রতিবার
যখন ট্রেন দেওলিতে থামে, ছেলেটি মেয়েটিকে
খোঁজেন। একবার তিনি তাঁর সঙ্গে কথা বলেন এবং বুঝতে পারেন যে মেয়েটিও তাঁকে পছন্দ
করে। কিন্তু বাস্তবতার কারণে, তাঁদের সম্পর্কের
কোনো ভবিষ্যৎ নেই। একদিন, ছেলেটি সিদ্ধান্ত
নেন যে তিনি মেয়েটির সঙ্গে দেখা করবেন এবং তাঁর জীবন সম্পর্কে জানবেন। কিন্তু
পরের বার ট্রেন দেওলিতে থামার পর তিনি মেয়েটিকে আর খুঁজে পান না।
এই গল্প অপূর্ণ প্রেম, বেদনাদায়ক বিচ্ছেদ এবং স্মৃতির গভীর ছোঁয়া নিয়ে গঠিত। লেখক বোঝাতে
চেয়েছেন যে জীবনের কিছু মুহূর্ত ও সম্পর্ক চিরকাল স্মৃতির পাতায় থেকে যায়, যদিও তা
বাস্তবে কখনও পূর্ণতা পায় না।
R. K.
Narayan’s ‘An Astrologer’s Day’