Ruskin Bond – An Endearing Personality

My name is Bond. Ruskin , not James Bond.

James Bond , the 007  the secret agent , double agent   and counter agent is the peerless  British Secret Service fictionalised character created by Ian Fleming in 1953. Spectre  is the 24^th movie  in the series  and the roles have been essayed by  some  stunningly handsome and gifted actors like Daniel Craig, Sean Connery, Pierce Bronson , Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton , George Lazenly , David Niven and Barry Nelson among others.

 The other Bond is not a fictional character, but a person with flesh and blood. He is Ruskin Bond. Ruskin Bond ( was  born on May 19^th a Taurine  in 1934)  perhaps not so well known in England is an extremely gifted  Anglo- Indian writer born in Kasauli  ( nestled in Shivalik Hills  though  not connected by rail) a   quintessentially quaint, British   kind of a  place in Himachal Pradesh  which was bequeathed to the natives by the Raj .This is where Kushwant Singh used to spend his summers , ruminate , think about sex ,  have his peg of whisky and produce  prolific  literature .

Among prominent  English writers of Indian origin like Nirad C Chaudhury, VS Naipaul , Kushwant Singh ,  RK Narayan  and so many more , Ruskin Bond ( endearing and enduring Bond) and RK Narayan  are  protuberant for their remarkable simplicity.

Ruskin Bond writes,” To be able to laugh and to be merciful are the only things that make man better than beast.”

His English parents ( Edith Clarke and Aubrey) were born in India . His siblings were William and Elen.   Pangs and twinges of loneliness are reflected in his writings so are ghosts, plants, children, hills and animals. His parents separated when he was barely four.  At this juncture his   grandmother stepped in and raised him at that tender  age.

His father Aubrey Alexander Bond, tutored princely subjects in India and Ruskin spent his early childhood at Jamnagar in Gujarat .  Today , Jamnagar  is the centre of world’s largest oil refining –hub , run by the Reliance Petrochemical Industry.

When war broke out, Ruskin’s father joined the Royal Airforce and his mother migrated to Dehradun ( in the  present day Uttarakhand) . Ruskin learnt his 3Rs at Mussorie . Naseeruddin Shah and his bothers too  were educated at Mussorie.

His father succumbed to Malaria in Calcutta( Kolkata) . At that point in time father and son would only   correspond  as the illustrious son was being schooled  at Shimla.

 Ruskin Bond pored over the letters of his father and wept in a hushed corner. He could not attend his father’s funeral. This was a cruel and brutish blow to the youngster. Several winters later in circa 2011, he stumbled upon his father’s grave.

 Meanwhile seeds   of resentment grew in Ruskin   while interacting with his Panjabi Hindu businessman stepfather. His mother and the  new father had settled in Dehradun and that is where he spent his summer vacations.  It was almost fortuitous that a writer was born. There was a tremendous biological need to dabble with ink and pen.

The 3Rs  are the largesse of Lord Macaulay and the British East India Company . So are the railways, defence forces, postal system and the steel frame ( Indian Bureaucracy).

After schooling, wanderlust drove Ruskin to England and a strapping young lad of 17 years sailed to that distant land. There were some relatives in London, including his aunt. He stayed on in England till 1955 and wrote his first novel, ‘ The Room on the Roof” against an Indian background. The novel  was acclaimed and was awarded for the effort ; though he did not receive the prize as he had left the shores by then.

Why did Ruskin Bond not join the Civil Services ? Had he done so  , then who would have written this copious literature . Why did Naseer not follow the treaded path of his brothers ? Then who would have had sex before learning to masturbate and   mature into such a gifted  actor and incidentally  a writer?

The writings of Ruskin Bond have ranged  from   seamless   love stories  , to the colour and mystique of romance and presently focussing  on   mirth and humour.

“ I love watching children grow . You cannot be a serious writer if you are not interested in people. I find people interesting so that I can’t get bored. Age has not taken a toll on my writing but on my tummy” guffaws Ruskin Bond.

Awarded the Padma Bhushan , his first novel was’ Room on the Roof’, followed by a sequel’ Vagrants in The Valley’ . He has written more than 45  books and among them 30 books for children.

Some of his prominent works include’ A flight of pigeons ‘( which was filmed by Shyam Benegal  as a national award winner  Junoon), Sensationalist , ‘Time Stops at Shamli’ and ‘Shooting at Mango Top’.

While the British laid the foundations of the Life Line of our nation( Railways) , Ruskin Bond though not suffering from hodophobia remained a poor traveller. He was prone to water-borne diseases, frequent skin eruptions and not easily  embracing unfamiliar food . He was however fascinated by railway platforms, be it Kalka or Saharanpur. And produced works like “ A night train at Deoli”, “ The Woman on Platform 8 “ .” The Tunnel” and “ The Eyes Have It.” He was equally fascinated  with the bookstalls located on the platforms.

As he spent large part of his life at hill stations , including  presently at Landour ( Mussorie) , his writings have  been influenced by  events which enveloped him and have traces of melancholia  and gentleness about them.

“ I may not be a great writer , but I hope that some readers will pick up and hold my works like a round pebble they have found on the beach “ writes Ruskin Bond.

While one Bond(the  super spy)  unleashes the gun and  philanders with voluptuous women of the world,  the other Bond  wields the pen and writes charming and endearing stories.