Exploration of Human Relationship with Nature in Ruskin Bond’s Vagrants in the Valley

A connection to nature is a sense of joint destiny and belonging between humans and the rest of the natural world. We may exist in a relationship physically distant or close to nature, but, a sense of connection keeps nature close to heart. In reality, humans are always the dependents of Mother Nature. Ecopsychology studies the relationship between human beings and the natural world through ecological and psychological principles. The field seeks to develop and understand the ways of expanding the emotional connection between individuals and the natural world, thereby assisting individuals to develop sustainable lifestyles and to give remedies for alienation from nature. A central premise of Ecopsychology is that while today the human mind is affected and shaped by the modern social world, its deep structure is inevitably adapted to and informed by the human natural environment. Ruskin Bond, a twentieth-century Indian writer of British descent has been connecting himself with the world through nature which has been reflected through his writings. According to Ruskin Bond, emotional connections of humans with nature will be more effective through direct experience, for which we should be placing equal value in spending regular and quality time interacting with the natural world.