The Therapeutic Wilderness and Deep Ecology: Tracing Biocentric Equality and Spiritual Healing in Ruskin Bond's Nature Narratives

Abstract

This research paper presents a detailed and ecocritical study of how the themes of Deep Ecology, spiritual healing and biocentric equality intersect in the literature of Ruskin Bond, in particular The Book of Nature, The Room on the Roof, and other material such as Vagrants in the Valley and Dust on the Mountains. This paper examines Bond's creation of an intrinsic value for all flora and fauna beyond the anthropocentric neatness of considering nature as a resource or a neutral visual background. This study aims to show that Bond makes the natural world come alive and the spiritual guardian through his storytelling devices. In addition, the paper explores in detail the therapeutic role of the wilderness in reducing human trauma, alienation, and physical and mental illnesses. In the end, it suggests that Bond's quiet and powerful environmentalism is about utilising Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) as a tool to promote ethical responsibility and a symbiotic relationship between people and their environment.