Ruskin Bond and his magical life of words

Don’t let those wrinkles defeat you; Ruskin bond; his persona and writing continue to charm his young readers.

Ruskin Bond is an award-winning Indian author of British heritage who is well-known in India for his contributions to the promotion of children’s reading.

He is a prolific writer with over 500 short stories, essays, and novels to his credit. In 2007, his bestselling tale ‘The Blue Umbrella’ was adapted into a Hindi film with the same title, which won the National Film Award for Best Children’s Film.

He’s also the author of more than 50 children’s books and two autobiographies. He spent his early years in Jamnagar and Shimla as the son of a British couple during the colonial rule of India. Unfortunately, his youth was tainted by his parent’s divorce and his father’s death.

He found refuge in reading and writing, and at the age of 16, he published one of his first short stories. He subsequently travelled to the United Kingdom in pursuit of more significant opportunities, but after a few years, he returned to India. As a young man, he supported himself by freelancing, penning short tales and poems for newspapers and periodicals. He was approached by Penguin Books a few years later, and they published many collections of his work, helping him establish himself as a famous novelist in India. In 1999, he received the Padma Shri, and in 2014, the Padma Bhushan. 

Regardless of his grey hair, wrinkles, and sluggish walk. His childlike wonder, sense of possibilities, and mischievous sense of humour have all remained intact. And he’s still clinging to the enchantment of his youth. He agrees, “It’s the period I write about the most.” His writer’s pen sprinkles fairy dust on these childhood recollections, conjuring up our favourite characters: eccentric Uncle Ken, Grandfather in a petticoat feeding his misandrous owls, and the little princesses his father taught at a palace school in Jamnagar (it is here that Bond learnt how to read upside down, a superior skill, he assures us). This may explain why so many of his young readers adore him.

His charisma is such that when an interviewer asked him why children loved him so much, he replied with a grin, “I like children because children like me,” causing the youngsters in the audience to burst out laughing once more.

Bond did not begin writing for children until he was in his forties, even though he is often called a “Children’s Author.” “I’ve always been good at writing about kids.” “However, I didn’t write those stories with a mind reader,” he explains. Then, by chance, he composed Angry River, a narrative about a small girl named Sita who lives in a hut on an island with her grandparents. It was supposed to be a novel, but the publisher rejected it because it was too short. However, it may be a good children’s book with some adjustments. As a result, Bond went ahead and made the necessary alterations.

“I did it for practical reasons, but I had a lot of fun doing it.” So I wrote more for children,” says Bond, who now divides his writing into two categories, focusing equally on children and adults. “It’s more difficult to please children,” he says. A child will not go with you for two or three chapters.”

 Accomplishments by Ruskin Bond 

Ruskin Bond worked in a photo studio for a while, looking for a publisher for his work. He returned to India and resided in Dehradun once he began making money from his writing. Bond made a career as a freelance writer for the following several years, composing short stories and poems for newspapers and periodicals. He moved to Mussoorie in 1963, where he continued his writing career.

By this time, he was a well-known writer, with essays and articles appearing in publications such as ‘The Leader,’ ‘The Pioneer,’ ‘The Tribune,’ and ‘The Telegraph.’ He also spent four years as the editor of a magazine.’The Blue Umbrella,’ one of his most successful novels, was published in 1980. Penguin Books took notice of his growing reputation as a writer. In the 1980s, Bond’s publishers approached him and urged him to write a few books. In 1993, Penguin India published a collection of two of his previous works, ‘The Room on the Roof’ and the sequel, ‘Vagrants in the Valley.’ 

Several of his works were published over the years, including ‘The Best Of Ruskin Bond,’ a collection of his non-fiction writings, and ‘The Night Train at Deoli,’ ‘Time Stops At Shamli,’ and ‘Our Trees Still Grow In Dehra,’ collections of short stories. ‘Ghost Stories from the Raj,’ ‘ A Face in the Dark and other Hauntigs’, and ‘A Season of Ghosts’. are just a few of his notable occult novels. Ruskin Bond’s writing career spanned five decades, during which time he experimented with several genres such as fiction, essays, autobiography, non-fiction, romance, and children’s literature.

Ruskin Bond’s stories continue to enchant his youthful audience. He’s the writer we didn’t realise we needed as kids, but who has always wanted to leave us with some unforgettable memories.