The line comes from the opening of Ruskin Bond’s short story “His Neighbour’s Wife,” and it is a teaser, not a confession. The narrator, Arun, a bachelor, insists that he did not fall in love with his neighbour’s wife and adds that “It is not that kind of story.” He is right. The story is about a neighbour who keeps trying to find him a wife, and it ends with Arun marrying her.
What the opening line is doing
The full sentence reads: “No (said Arun, as we waited for dinner to be prepared), I did not fall in love with my neighbour’s wife. It is not that kind of story.” The parenthetical places the remark in ordinary conversation, and the second sentence signals that the reader should not expect a love triangle or an affair. The headline in Scroll.in borrows that sentence for the same reason: it sets up an expectation and lets the story overturn it.
The distinction matters because the phrase can be misread out of context. Nothing in the excerpt suggests that Arun pursued a married woman. The tension in the story comes from a neighbour who wants to see him settled and a bachelor who does not realise where that matchmaking is heading.
How the story unfolds
The excerpt presents the story in this order:
- Leela tries to find Arun a wife. Leela is Arun’s neighbour and a married woman with a son, Chandu. She repeatedly encourages Arun to marry and attempts to arrange a match for him.
- Her husband is killed. Leela’s situation changes sharply, and she plans to return to her village.
- Arun proposes. Before she leaves, Arun asks her to marry him, reversing the roles the two have played until then.
- The frame reveals the outcome. The closing scene shows that Arun and Leela are married and that Chandu is Arun’s stepson.
The story’s joke, in other words, depends on the reader expecting a marriage plot to be set up for someone else. The eventual marriage is the point of the story, not a twist that undermines the opening line.
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Who is who
- Arun: the bachelor narrator, and the speaker of the opening line. He is a fictional character, not Ruskin Bond speaking in his own voice.
- Leela: Arun’s neighbour, first a married woman and later the woman he proposes to.
- Chandu: Leela’s son, who becomes Arun’s stepson by the story’s close.
The ages and the rupee amount that appear in the narrative are part of the fiction. They are not data about marriage, household costs or social patterns, and they should not be quoted as such.
Where the excerpt comes from
The Scroll.in article, published on 15 October 2021, presents the story as an excerpt from Writing for My Life: The Very Best of Ruskin Bond, and credits Puffin Books India with permission to reproduce it. The table below separates what the article establishes from what it does not.
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| Item | What the source establishes |
|---|---|
| Story title | “His Neighbour’s Wife,” by Ruskin Bond |
| Where the excerpt appears | Scroll.in, 15 October 2021, headed “Ruskin Bond picks his best for a new collection” |
| Source collection | Writing for My Life: The Very Best of Ruskin Bond, per the article’s permission line |
| Permission credit | Puffin Books India |
| Current edition, ISBN, price, availability | Not stated in the source; check a current publisher or retailer listing before buying |
What “picks his best” does and does not mean
The headline describes Bond as choosing his best work for the collection, but the excerpt does not list the collection’s full contents or explain how the stories were selected. It is therefore safe to say that “His Neighbour’s Wife” appears in a collection of Bond’s best-known work. It is not safe to describe it as his definitive best story or to assume a complete table of contents from the article alone.
Quoting the line correctly
When you quote the opening sentence, attribute it to Arun, the narrator of “His Neighbour’s Wife.” Presenting it as Bond’s own nonfiction statement would misrepresent the text. The British spelling “neighbour’s” matches the Scroll.in headline and the story’s title, so use it when searching or citing.
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Finding the story
- Search for the exact title, “His Neighbour’s Wife,” together with “Ruskin Bond.”
- To find the collection, search for Writing for My Life: The Very Best of Ruskin Bond, and confirm that the listing you choose is that book and check its publisher and format.
- Check the publisher or bookseller page for current availability, since the 2021 article cannot tell you what is in print today.
The excerpt itself is short and easy to read in one sitting. It works best as a self-contained comic setup, and it does not require the rest of the collection to make sense.
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