Ruskin Bond, India's Lovable Author of Children

Ruskin Bond is India's one of the most loved authors of children. Many of the children have grown up reading his simple narrative stories and novels. He portrays India the way Indian children know about their country, where nature has a great role to play. I have read many of his books, and got inspired to write short stories for children, and hence I am writing this hub about my favorite children's author. He is considered to be an icon among the writers and children's authors from India.

Ruskin Bond is an Indian author of British descent, born on 19th May 1934. He was born in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh. Most of his childhood was spent in hill stations of Himalaya, and places like Shimla, Jamnagar, Mussoorie, and Dehradum. He has lived in London too. HIs father, Aubrey Alexander Bond, was working with Royal Air Force during the time of World War II. Ruskin Bond now lives in Landour, Mussoorie, with his adopted family.

His mother wanted him to join the Army, but he felt it was not for him. Since a very young age, he had nursed an idea of becoming a writer in his mind and started earning money in his teens. His favorite writers include Mark Twain, Charles Dickens and Émile Zola.

Ruskin Bond has written in different genres including fiction, essays, autobiographical, non-fiction, romance, and books for children. He has written more than 500 short stories. Some of the famous ones are - Room on the Roof, Night Train at Deoli, Time Stops at Shamli, Flight of the Pigeons, Susannah's Seven Husbands, The Parrot Who wouldn't talk and other stories, Guardian Angel, The Man Who Was Kipling and Tiger Tiger Burning Bright and Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra.

The interesting point is that as a young boy, he used to write for adults and he began to write for children when he was 40.

His first coffee table book for adult reading - .Garhwal – Heaven in Himalayas,

Apart from short stories, he has also written novels/novellas, Essays and Vignettes, Poems like All Is Life, A Little Night Music and Travel articles.

His book on Poem - To Live in Magic: A Book of Nature Poems is also famous.

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, which is a collection of essays and episodes from his journal.

He has also written ghost stories, but they are not horrifying.

He has over 120 titles to his credit.

He says that the country was the inspiration behind many of his writings.

His set of audiobooks will release early 2020..

Some of his stories have been made into movies.

His short story "Susannah's Seven Husbands" is made into movie " Saat Khoon Maaf", directed by Vishal Bharadwaj, which stars Priyanka Chopra. Ruskin Bond is also there in the movie (Cameo).

The other stories which were turned into movies are "Blue Umbrella" in 2007 and "Junoon" in 1978.

• 1957 - John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize - for his first novel "The Room on the Roof" which was written when he was just 17 years. This prize is awarded to British Commonwealth Writers who are under the age of 30.
• 1992 - Sahitya Academy Award - for his short story collection ""Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra, for his English writing.
• 1999 - Prestigious Padmashri Award for his contribution to Children's literature.
• 2014 - He was awarded the prestigious Padma Bhushan Award
• 2017 - Lifetime Achievement Award by the Chandigarh Literary Society.

• "To be able to laugh and to be merciful are the only things that make man better than the beast."
• "People often ask me why my style is so simple. It is, in fact, deceptively simple, for no two sentences are alike. It is clarity that I am striving to attain, not simplicity."
• "Of course, some people want literature to be difficult and there are writers who like to make their readers toil and sweat. They hope to be taken more seriously that way. I have always tried to achieve a prose that is easy and conversational. And those who think this is simple should try it for themselves."
• "Just as there are exciting new authors being brought to our attention everyday, so there are exciting old authors who have yet to be discovered."
• "Yet there are times when I do love my art. And because I have loved it, I think I have been able to pass through life without being any man's slave or tyrant."
• "To be able to laugh and to be merciful are the only things that make man better than the beast"