Ruskin Bond is read widely by children and adults alike. Recipient of the Sahitya Academy Award, the Padma Shree and the Padma Bhushan, he plays a phenomenal role in shaping children’s literature in India even today. His popular books include A Flight of Pigeons, The Room on the Roof, The Blue Umbrella among several others.
What has been your favourite part of writing as a profession?
The fact that I’m getting to earn a living from what I enjoy doing the most. In other words, my hobby or in fact my favourite pastime as a boy has over the last 60 years enabled me to survive.
If you were to choose one of your books as a favourite, which would it be and why?
There is no real favourite as such. I have a soft corner for the first one. It’s like loving your first child a little more than the rest. That occupies a very special place in my heart.
Authors who have inspired you over the years?
That is a wide collection. From my first big book of nursery rhymes which didn’t have authors to Lewis Carol’s Alice in Wonderland and David Copperfield to Sherlock and other things. The list goes on.
Does the character of Maharani have any element of reality?
Yes, it does. A good 75 per cent. The rest of it was possibly fiction, things I made up in my head.
Do you keep track of the writers who are in the literary scene today?
Yes, I may not be particularly read all of them but I do keep track. I like to keep myself updated. It’s interesting to know how well they are doing. To be honest, it sometimes gives me an inferiority complex when I see so many young authors selling their books better than me. For that reason alone, it makes me work a bit harder.
Have you ever considered writing about politics in your books?
Not really. It’s maybe come in bits here and there; I’ve always felt that if you include politics in your writings, it is so easy to make enemies.
When you write, do you essentially write for yourself or for the readers?
I write particularly for myself. I think any serious writer would always be writing for oneself. The reader in my mind is always a mere projection of ‘myself’. That’s the ideal reader for me.
Do feedbacks ever worry you?
It’s good to have them. I usually have very good feedbacks. I’ve never had very nasty feedbacks, so I didn’t exactly have to worry about them. But yes, they do make me happy.
You live in a setting that’s far removed from city life. Does solitude ever bother you?
I love solitude. Solitude is vital for a writer, as opposed to loneliness. Because loneliness is something you don’t choose. It can be something that’s a mere consequence of circumstances but solitude is something you choose for yourself.
Not too many of your stories are based in cities. Do you want to consider writing one?
I have some. I’ve written stories based in cities like London and New Delhi. I’m yet to do Calcutta. One has to stay in a place for sometime to write about a place confidently, to be able to identify with it. I would love to write a story based here if I lived here a few months.
Given that you published your first story in The Statesman, do you still feel connected with the paper?
I do. I feel very nostalgic about it. I think it was 1955 that I came back from England and wrote several stories that got published in The Statesman. The most well known one among them is still being reprinted, it’s still one of my most popular stories. I did however change the ending later on.
When it first appeared in The Statesman the ending was a little different than what it is now. I was a member of The Benjie League. It was like a little kangaroo or something. I used to send in articles for every publication through post and then eagerly wait for it to get published.
Your message for our readers.
Good luck. Stay happy. Keep reading.
Coordinator, Ex-Bishop Morrow School, Krishnanagar Coordinator, Ex-St Thomas’ Girls, Khidderpore