Ruskin Bond is one of India’s best known English writers, who has written hundreds of novels and other works. He is humble, down-to-earth, has a sense of humility in him. During my meeting with him, I did not get the impression that he is greedy for money or fame or out to hog limelight. Some people that I have come across (and who have met him), have confirmed this.
I am told that one day in a week he goes down to Mussorie, a hill station close to Landour and sits in a book store and the tourists rush there, buy books and get them autographed by Ruskin Bond.
Considering his fame in the literary world, Mr. Bond’s cottage seemed nothing extravagant, extraordinary or swanky, but well kept and tidy and neatly stacked with quite a number of books. We had a conversation of about an hour and I got the impression that I was speaking to a man, who is simple, honest, with no greed for money or fame, but contented with all that he has got and gets, with hardly any visible signs of worries.
His novel, “Room on the roof” won him the John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize in 1957. Then he got the Sahitya Academy Award in 1992 for his contributions to the English language, followed by the Padma Shri in 1999 for contributing to children’s literature. Without my asking or prompting, he was kind enough to show me his awards when, in fact, I was intruding his privacy. He can be considered as an icon amongst the Indian writers (in English language) and also writes books for children. Two or three Bollywood films have been produced based on his works.
Mr. Bond took me to his bedroom, which also doubles up as his study and pointed out of the window to show me the location of the old British cemetery somewhere near the top of the mountain and also where the Alter family’s (children of American missionary couple) ancestral property lies. Then he pointed his finger far away from the mountains in the direction of Dehra Dun city in the plains and told me that though this city is approx. 35 kilometers away as the crow flies, on a clear night the people of Landour located at vantage points can see the lights of that city. However, if one were to travel from Dehra to Mussorie (or from Mussorie to Dehra Dun) through winding, U-urn roads on the mountain, the distance is 55 kilometers.
Mr. Bond is a bachelor and has adopted an Indian family and they have been living with him since decades.
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