Ruskin Bond

Ruskin Bond
Ruskin Bond in a Meet the Author program at Sharjah International Book Fair, 23 November 2011
Born	19 May 1934 (1934-05-19) Kosali, Solan Himachal Pradesh, India
Occupation	Writer Poet
Nationality	Indian
Period	1951-present
Genres	Contemporary
Subjects	Autobiographical, Semi-autobiographical, Fiction, Non-fiction, novella writer, novelist, children and young adult writer

Ruskin Bond, born 19 May 1934 in Kasauli Distt Solan, is an Indian author of British descent. He is considered to be an icon among Indian writers and children's authors and a top novelist.

In 1992 he received the Sahitya Akademi award for English writing, for his short stories collection, "Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra", by the Sahitya Academy, India's National Academy of Literature. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1999 for contributions to children's literature. He now lives with his adopted family in Landour near Mussoorie.

About

Born in pre-independent India, Ruskin Bond is the quintessential Indian writer in English and a lifelong lover of India. He came into this world in a military hospital in Kasauli to Edith Clerke and Aubrey Bond.

Bond spent his early childhood in Jamnagar, Dehradun and Shimla. His parents divorced when he was young and he had a rather solitary childhood. In 1944, Ruskin’s father died, succumbing to malaria. He was raised by his mother (who remarried an Indian businessman), and other relatives. He completed his schooling at Bishop Cotton School in Shimla, from where he graduated in 1952.

Ruskin’s love for books and writing had come early to him, since father always surrounded him with books and encouraged him to write little descriptions of the nature, as he took Rusty on hikes around the hills. It was after school, that he began to carve out a niche as a writer.

Soon after his schooling, Ruskin left India to live in London. There, he took up odd jobs like working for a travel agency and a photo shop. He lived there for four years, but memories of India continuously haunted and overwhelmed him.

Bond wrote his first story, Room On The Roof at the age of 17. It won him instant recognition and the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize in 1957, awarded to a British Commonwealth writer under 30. The book captured the vibrant mystique of the Himalayas, and evidently earned him his passage to India too. With the money that he earned from this book, he bought a ticket to India- his home for the rest of his life.

Upon returning, Bond chose to settle in the charming landscape of Dehra Dun and begin his career as a freelance writer. He wrote Vagrants in the Valley, as a sequel to The Room on the Roof. These two novels were published in one volume by Penguin India in 1993. The following year his much-acclaimed collection of his non-fiction writings, Rain In The Mountains, Delhi Is Not Far, The Best Of Ruskin Bond was also published by Penguin India. His interest in the paranormal led him to write popular titles like 'Ghost Stories from the Raj', 'A Season of Ghosts', 'A Face in the Dark and other Hauntings' and more...5 novels, 73 short stories, 10 essays, 6 travel writings, 10 songs and poems.

Bringing the past and present together is Ruskin Bond's specialty. A career now spanning four decades, has won him tremendous critical acclaim. His writing is full with unassuming humour and quiet wisdom. His stories are sensitive and manifest a deep love for nature, Indian people and their eccentricities.

In 1987, the Indian Council for Child Education recognized his pioneering role in the growth of children's literature in India, and awarded him the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1992 for Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra. He won the Padma Shri in 1999.

Bond's novel The Flight of Pigeons has been adapted into the acclaimed Merchant Ivory film Junoon. The Room on the Roof was also adapted for a television serial. Short stories from collections such as The Night Train at Deoli, Time Stops at Shamli and Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra have been included in school text books. In the year 2007,the Bollywood director Vishal Bharadwaj made a heart-warming film based on his popular novel for children, The Blue Umbrella. The movie won the National Award for Best Children's film.

Ruskin’s latest offering to the world of are a collection of prose and poems bringing out his unique relationship with India and its people. "The India I Love, does not make the headlines, but I find it wherever I go bhiog- In field or forest, town or village, mountain or desert - and in the hearts and minds of people who have given me love and affection for the better part of my lifetime," he says.

Media-shy, Bond prefers the quiet fun of the hills and currently lives in Landour, Mussoorie’s well-known Ivy Cottage, which has been his home since 1964

Early life

His father was with the Royal Air Force in India. He has one sister and brother, Ellen Bond and William Bond. When Bond was four years old, his mother was separated from his father and married a Punjabi-Hindu, Mr. Hari, who himself had been married once.

When he was ten years old Ruskin went to his grandmother's house in Dehradun (he called her the "Culcatta Granny") because of his father's sudden death due to frequent bouts of malaria and jaundice.

After his High School education in Shimla he spent four years in England. In London he started writing his first novel, The Room on the Roof, the semi-autobiographical story of the orphaned Anglo-Indian boy Rusty. Bond used the advance money which he got for this book to pay the sea passage to Bombay. He worked for some years as a journalist in Delhi and Dehradun. Since 1963 he has lived as a freelance writer in Mussoorie, a town in the Himalayan foothills.

Literary style

Most of Bond's writings show a very strong influence from the social life in the hill stations at the foothills of the Himalayas, where he spent his childhood. His first novel, "The Room On the Roof", was written when he was 17 and published when he was 21. It was partly based on his experiences at Dehra, in his small rented room on the roof, and his friends. The "Room On the Roof" brought him the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize in 1957. Since then he has written over three hundred short stories, essays and novels (including "Vagrants in The Valley","The Blue Umbrella", "Funny Side Up" and "A Flight of Pigeons") and more than 30 books for children. He has also published two volumes of autobiography. "Scenes from a Writer's Life", which describes his formative years growing up in Anglo-India, and "The Lamp is Lit", a collection of essays and episodes from his journal.

His writing style is distinct in a way that it tries to make reader understand the landscape and ethos through carefully mastered words. His writings have won him both tremendous critical acclaim as well as a long list of fans throughout the literary world. Replete with unassuming humor and quiet wisdom, his stories manifest a deep love for nature and people. His mesmerizing descriptions about the flora and fauna of Himalayas can not be missed in his 100 something short stories, essays, novels, and more than thirty books of children that he has written.

Bond said that while his earlier autobiographical work, "Rain in the Mountains", was about his long years spent in Mussoorie, "Scenes from a Writer's Life" described his first 21 years. "Looking back, I find that those earlier years of my life have more incidents resulting from youthful enthusiasm," said the writer. "Two-thirds of the book talks about my life in Dehra Dun as a young boy," he added. Now he lives with his adopted family in Ladour, Mussoorie. "Scenes from a Writer's Life" dwells on Bond's trip to England, his struggle to find a publisher for his first book "The Room on the Roof" and his yearning to come back to India, particularly to Doon. "It also tells a lot about my parents," said Bond. "The book ends with the publication of my first novel and my decision to make writing my livelihood," Bond said, adding, "Basically it describes how I became a writer.

His works has inspired several generations of writers, authors and scriptwriters. His novel named "The Flight of Pigeons" has been adapted into the acclaimed Merchant Ivory film "Junoon". Another less known novel named "The Room on the Roof" has been adapted in to a BBC-produced TV series. Nevertheless his greatest achievement comes from the fact that several of his short stories from his collections have been incorporated in the school curriculum all over India. It includes jewels such as "The Night Train at Deoli", "Time Stops at Shamli", and "Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra". In spite of all these successes, Bond can be concluded today as a media-shy and reclusive literary genius. He spends his days with his adopted family at a place close to Dehradun. He received the Sahitya Akademi Award for English writing in India for "Our Trees Still grows in Dehra" in 1992. He has also been conferred with Padma Shri, one of the most prestigious civil awards in India.

Filmography

Based on Bond's historical novella A Flight of Pigeons (about an episode during the Indian Rebellion of 1857) the Hindi film Junoon was produced in 1978 by Shashi Kapoor (directed by Shyam Benegal). Ruskin Bond made his maiden foray on the big screen with a cameo in Vishal Bhardwaj's film " 7 Khoon Maaf", based on his short story "Susanna's Seven Husbands". Bond appears as a Bishop in the movie with Priyanka Chopra, who kills "each of her seven husbands". Bond had earlier collaborated with him in the 'The Blue Umbrella (film)' which was also based on his story.

Notable works

Short stories

• The Eyes Have It
• The Wish
• Angry River
• Mr. Olivers Diary
• Delhi Is Not Far
• The Woman on Platform 8
• Dust On The Mountains
• The Road to Shimla
• Ranji's Wonderful Bat
• Rusty Runs Away
• The Blue Umbrella
• Night of the Leopard
• Granny's Tree Climbing
• Mountains of Dehra
• The last truk ride
• The fight'.
• The kite maker
• Ghost trouble
• Cricket for Crocodile

Collections

• Tiger in the houseaha aha
• Garland of Memories
• The boy who broke the bank
• Funny Side Up
• Night Train at Deoli
• Rain in the Mountains-Notes from the Himalayas
• Our trees still grow in dehra

Novels

• Room On The Roof
• Scenes from a Writer's Life
• Susanna's Seven Husbands
• A Flight of Pigeons
• Landour Days - A writers Journel
• The Sensualist by Ruskin Bond
• The Road To The Bazar
• The Panther's Moon
• Once Upon A Monsoon Time
• "The India I love"

References

• Biography of Ruskin Bond by Atula Ahuja, approved by him

External links

• Profile and books by Ruskin Bond
• A review of Scene's From a Writer's Life
• Interview with Ruskin Bond by Atula Ahuja
• Let's Meet Ruskin
• Bond Reminisces
• Ruskin Bond in a Video reciting 2 of his Poems
• A Landour Day with Ruskin Bond by Ramendra Kumar
• The skeleton in the cupboard:Short Story Published in the Times of India