No Room for a Leopard by Ruskin Bond | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. No Room for a Leopard is a short story written by Ruskin Bond that was first published in his story collection A Bond with the Mountains in 1998. the story highlights the ecological crisis that we are facing in current times and is intended to increase our ecological consciousness. ‘No Room for a Leopard’, is about deforestation and its accompanying aftermath. It presents the pathetic condition of the animals after deforestation. It is a very moving account of the killing of a trusting leopard by a group of shikaris/hunters. Because of deforestation taking place in the hills and surrounding areas, many animals have been driven into the valleys inhabited by human beings. This exposes them to grave risks and fatal encounters – one such encounter has been described in this story. The story also reveals the difference between the children’s thinking and the adult thinking that has also been brought out. Children love nature. They love all the creatures. It comes naturally to them. No ulterior consideration enters their innocent minds. They can never ever think of harming the animals or exploiting them for their personal gain or profit. But the adults are solely driven by mercenary considerations. If a leopard’s skin can fetch them a good price, they would not think twice before killing him. Compassion, trust, love… these mean nothing to them. An idyllic world stands shattered because of this selfish cruelty.

Characters of No Room for a Leopard:

The main character of the story is Ruskin, a twelve-year-old boy who lives in a cottage just above the forest in the mountains with his family. The boy loves animals in the jungle and has a complete affinity with nature. He would often visit the jungle for playing, bird watching, and sightseeing. His family is aware of his activities but it appears that they do not worry about him going alone in the jungle. The boy represents innocence and the co-dependence of life forms in the world. The other characters in the story are a group of hunters or shikaris who are traveling around the jungle in search of a leopard that they wish to hunt for his skin. The shikaris represent the selfish attitude of greedy humans willing to exploit nature for their profits which is contrasted with the child’s spontaneous love for the animals.

The theme of No Room for a Leopard:

The general theme of children’s stories often involves a long hazardous journey in pursuit of something noble. The perilous journey exemplifies the value of cooperation and the quality of friendship. In this story, the boy crosses the forest and the small stream at the bottom of the hill every morning and evening, all by himself. The purpose that is apparent is ‘understanding nature in its nascent form.’ The boy develops a relationship with the jungle and its inhabitants and he has no fear of the wild animals who find him friendly. The story reminds me of Henry David Thoreau’s experiences in the wilderness of Walden. The story offers a message about the norms of the society in which we live. The transmission of ethical and social values is skillfully depicted in the story. The story highlights the difference between an innocent child’s thinking and that of the greedy, corrupt, nonchalant adult Shikaris. The story suggests that while a child is naturally inclined to love and appreciate nature, as we grow adult, we forget our connection with our environment and what remains in our mind is our own selfish, irrational attitude.

Summary of No Room for a Leopard:

Ruskin is a twelve-year-old teen boy who lives in a cottage just above the jungle on the mountain. He lives with his family. There is a stream of water flowing in the jungle down the mountain. There is a distinct path on the mountain going down but the trail of path disappears in the forest where a stream appears. At dawn, and at dusk Ruskin regularly goes for a walk around the stream. Ruskin loves the water of the stream making a soft gurgling sound flowing down the ravine. The ravine is so deep that below only shadow appears, nothing else.

He is a frequent walker through that path. Birds, monkeys, and other herbivorous animals are familiar with his smell. They know he is not a hunter. The birds would no longer fly away, they would just watch him with some curiosity and continue to munch up the tender green shoots of the oak. Not only that, when one day they saw a leopard poised on a rock about twenty feet above the young boy, they tried to warn him of the hidden danger by grunting and chattering. They thus showed their concern for him. A deep bond thus got established between Ruskin and the animals' world without their ever exchanging a single word. The leopard noticed Ruskin.

At times, he spots the silent leopard at the stream for drinking water. Ruskin often stops upon seeing it. That also happened that they both crossed each other’s path several times. Even animals can smell the intentions of man. Like other animals, the leopard sensed Ruskin as a harmless human. It trusted him. That trust developed a sense of friendship. Neither the leopard is afraid of Ruskin, nor does Ruskin have any fear of the leopard.

One day, while Ruskin was on his walk, he saw some strange men resting under a tree. He notices their modern guns that appear ominous and he gets apprehensive. These men are shikaris. They wonder about the little boy wandering in the jungle and caution him that there is a deadly carnivorous leopard lurking around the jungle and Ruskin is not safe there. Ruskin says that he is a regular visitor and he denies seeing any leopard around the area. Ruskin hears them discussing how the skin of wild leopards is in demand and how easily they can make big money by hunting down the leopard.

Ruskin is worried about the leopard. Seeing the shikaris, he gets a bad feeling about the situation and thus tries to help the leopard by denying its existence in the jungle.

Several days pass by and Ruskin does not see that leopard. One day Ruskin goes to a serene and silent hill. The silence there begins gnawing him. He sensed something was eerie. When he focuses on one cave, it is dark inside, and he feels that there is that leopard. The leopard is aware of him but isn’t afraid or startled. The leopard finds him familiar and friendly. Ruskin taught the leopard to trust human beings. Ruskin returns home silently and safely.

The next day while on a walk, he sees some men making a jubilant sound. When he sees them, he freezes with disbelief. On a bamboo pole, the same leopard’s corpse is hanging. The men were singing their songs. “We told you that there is a leopard in the jungle”, said one of the shikaris.

Ruskin feels bad about the situation. He wonders if he helped the Shikaris in hunting down the leopard. Because of him, the leopard began trusting human beings became less cautious, and got killed. He, then, remembers the lines of a poem by D.H. Lawrence: ‘There was a room in the world for a mountain lion and me’.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of Indian English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!