Latest news with #RuskinBond
Hindustan Times
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Delhiwale: Ruskin, the Delhi walla
Ruskin Bond, the writer who lives in the Himalayan foothills, turned 91 this week. Here are 9+1 nuggets on his connections with our Delhi. 1. Although Ruskin's literature is mostly set in the Dehradun-Mussoorie foothills, his childhood was briefly spent in Delhi, during the war years, from 1942 to 44. 2. Following the separation of his parents, little Ruskin moved to the capital to be with his beloved stamp-collector father, who worked in the Codes and Cyphers section at the Air Headquarters of the Royal Air Force. His office was near India Gate. 3. The baap-beta team initially lived in the so-called Air Force hutment, close to Humayun Tomb. (They later lived in Atul Grove Road, Hailey Road and Scindia House.) In peak summer, the mashak walla would arrive daily at Ruskin's residence with his goat-skin mashak to sprinkle water at the khus-khus screens that covered the doors and windows. 4. In those long-ago Delhi days, little Ruskin's father would take him to movies in the Connaught Place cinemas, and treat him to pastries at the Wenger's. Walking about in the summertime Delhi sun inevitably gave the boy a 'roasted look,' prompting street loafers to tease him as 'Lal Bandar.' 5. In 1944, Ruskin's father suddenly died in Calcutta. Ruskin was 10. The tragedy coincided with the end of his first stint with Delhi. 6. Ruskin's second stint in Delhi was as a young freelance writer, when he lived alone in the 'treeless' neighbourhood of Rajouri Garden. Vast agricultural fields then existed near his house. Ruskin would often walk into those fields, 'finding old wells, irrigation channels, camels and buffaloes, and sighting birds and small creatures that no longer dwelt in the city.' 7. Like a modern-day flaneur, Ruskin regularly walked through the city, from Rajouri Garden to Connaught Place, from Dilli Gate to Chandni Chowk, and from Ajmeri Gate to India Gate. In the India Gate grounds, he would lounge on the grass, eating jamuns. 8. One of Ruskin's books is titled The Roads to New Delhi. The cover shows an illustration of Regal Cinema, which stopped screening films in 2017. 9. A time was when Ruskin frequently visited Delhi, undertaking day-long road trip on car from his home in the hills. He was always taken in by the window scenes of the countryside that unfolded on the highway to Delhi— 'the sugarcane being harvested, children bathing in small canals, the serenity of mango groves...' 10. During his Delhi soujourns, Ruskin is often sighted at the India International Centre. One evening, in 2018, he was sitting alone at an outdoor table, digging into a bowl of onion pakoras (see photo), looking as lonely as his lonely childhood that he has described so poignantly in his many books. PS: The material in this piece is primarily fished out from Ruskin Bond's books, along with conversations he has had in the past with interviewers, including this reporter.
New Indian Express
21-05-2025
- New Indian Express
Ruskin Bond marks his 91st birthday in quiet
Ruskin Bond marked his 91st birthday in unostentatious elegance; renouncing the usual fanfare for a quiet celebration at his quaint, old Ivy Cottage in Landour. Unlike previous years, which saw readers and well-wishers congregate at the cottage to greet the litterateur, this birthday was notably low-key. Bond had earlier cancelled all public festivities in a video message, citing the recent tragedy in Pahalgam. 'I won't be able to have a public celebration this year,' he said, almost meditative as he spoke. 'I think maybe it's time to just reflect.' And his well-wishers understood, leaving the luminary to quiet contemplation. 'War' & water: Indian youth harassed in Dubai In a shocking incident, an Indian youth working in Dubai was allegedly harassed by his Pakistan-native roommates after the Indian government put the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. Vishal, hailing from Udham Singh Nagar district, said 'They would taunt me, saying 'If India can stop our water, we'll stop your water too'.' Vishal said the persecution made him fall ill; his attempts to return home were in vain. However, SSP Manikant Mishra intervened and brought Vishal back to India. 'We are grateful to SSP Mishra for rescuing our son,' said Vishal's teary-eyed family after his return.
Hindustan Times
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Delhiwale: Reading Satyajit Ray in Noida
The radiologist seems to unite some of the best blessings of existence. He lives in a Sector 50 high-rise in Noida, sharing a spacious apartment with his parents, his wife—a dermatologist—and their two children. The bed in his bedroom is of Burma teak wood, inherited from his late grandmother, who had acquired it when she lived in Burma. And then Sushant Mittal has something more. His bedroom has a wooden case filled with books. This is his library. Last week, a college library in the capital caught fire; thousands of books at Pitampura's Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce were burned to ashes. It was a short circuit accident, and fortunately, no injury was reported. But the spectre of burned books is historically terrifying. It recalls the destruction of the great library of Alexandria, or, closer home, the annihilation of the ancient university of Nalanda, which had a great number of handwritten books. In such a context, Sushant's library—and every other private library in the city—offers some consolation, no matter how big or small they might be. Sushant's book collection is not massive, but here in Noida, a world besieged by malls and multiplexes, its existence is akin to a shrine to words. The top shelf has Amartya Sen, Kazuo Ishiguro and Geetanjali Shree, though the largest space is claimed by our great chronicler of mountains and mist, who turned 91 this week. Ruskin Bond's best stories remind Sushant of the nature as it is supposed to be. Pointing out his favourite Ruskin Bond, Sushant says that he purchased 'Rain in the Mountains' from a lake-facing bookstore in the mountain town of Nainital. Some of the other authors crammed into the book case include Tagore, Naipaul, Anita Desai, Namita Gokhale, and William Dalrymple. As Sushant continues to chat, a layer of mist forms on the glass pane of the bedroom window—this being a rainy afternoon. The book case's glass pane, in turn, shows a reflection of the misty window. The attention gradually shifts from the radiologist's books to the T-shirt he is wearing. It shows a Matisse painting. Once, while visiting a family friend's house, Sushant spotted a large two-volume art book titled 'What Great Paintings Say.' He spent the next few months prowling through many bookstores but couldn't find the hefty volumes. The search ended at a book fair, where he discovered an abridged single-volume edition of the book. It now adorns his living room. Meanwhile, the rain has almost stopped. Sushant's wife, Sarika, steps into the room. Sitting down on the footstool beside him, the dermatologist jokingly says that she has passion for many things, except for the books. Both graciously agree to pose for a portrait, with Sushant holding a paperback titled 'Beyond the World of Apu: the Films of Satyajit Ray.'
India Today
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- India Today
How Ruskin Bond turned his quiet hill life into timeless literary magic
On a fog-drenched morning at a railway station, a 12-year-old boy in his second year of boarding school stood alone on Platform 8, nervously waiting for his train. A kind stranger -- a woman with gentle eyes -- offered him warmth, comfort, and a moment of unexpected brief encounter etched itself into the boy's memory. Years later, it would bloom into one of India's most tender short stories, The Woman on Platform boy, of course, was Ruskin Bond. While this beloved short story isn't strictly autobiographical, Bond's stories, like that misty morning, are often rooted in real-life moments -- quiet, almost forgettable fragments that he turns into luminous tales. (Photo: PTI) Whether it's the sound of a train whistle, the rustle of deodar leaves, or a fleeting friendship with a stranger, he has the rare gift of making the ordinary unforgettable. His stories don't shout; they whisper their way into your like you are curled up on a rug in his room cluttered with books, paper and writing material, listening to him tell you about something that happened over two decades ago, and watching it come alive behind your IN THE HILLS, HEART IN THE STORYadvertisementBorn on May 19, 1934, in the scenic town of Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh, Ruskin Bond grew up amidst hills and heartbreak. His father, Aubrey Bond, served in the Royal Air Force, and his mother Edith Clarke was of Anglo-Indian his parents separated, young Ruskin was shuttled between schools and towns -- Jamnagar, Dehradun, Shimla -- clutching tightly to books and imagination as sources of loss of his father when he was just ten years old left a gaping hole, one that echoes through many of his stories. There is a deep melancholy in Bond's works, but it is always softened by his empathy and wit. (Photo: India Today) He once wrote, 'It is always the same with mountains. Once you have lived with them for any length of time, you belong to them.' And in many ways, he was during his years at Bishop Cotton School in Shimla that he discovered his love for won multiple prizes for his essays and stories, but no one could have guessed that by the age of seventeen, he would pen The Room on the Roof -- the semi-autobiographical story of Rusty, a lonely Anglo-Indian boy searching for freedom and friendship in a postcolonial won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize in 1957 and introduced the world to Bond's lyrical LANGUAGE OF STILLNESSThere's a certain softness to Ruskin Bond's writing -- an almost old-world charm that makes you slow down. His stories don't chase drama; instead, they offer you a chair, pour you a cup of tea, and tell you about the time he met a talking ghost, or the boy who climbed trees just to be closer to the language is deceptively simple. But simplicity is his superpower. His prose is filled with sensory details: the scent of rain on pine needles, the murmur of a stream behind an old house, the crunch of gravel underfoot in a sleepy Mussoorie lane. These aren't just descriptions -- they are experiences. (Photo: India Today) advertisementHis writing carries what many fans call a 'slice-of-life' quality -- stories that feel as if they could have happened to you, or someone you this gentle storytelling is also a reflection of Bond himself. A quiet observer. A lover of nature. A believer in the beauty of small is no coincidence that he chose to live most of his life in the slow, leafy embrace of the WHERE THE STORIES BREATHEIn 1963, Ruskin Bond settled in Mussoorie, a hill town that would become both his home and his Landour home -- modest, filled with books and sunlight -- sits like a watchtower over the valley, from where he has watched generations grow up on his like Roads to Mussoorie and Mussoorie and Landour: Days of Wine and Roses read like love letters to the hills. The colonial charm, the winding roads, the sudden downpours, and the sound of monkeys chattering on rooftops—all of it seeps into his writing. (Photo: India Today) advertisementEven the most fantastical of his stories feel grounded in real smells, sights, and textures. You can almost hear the rustle of a ghost's sari in A Face in the Dark, or feel the old-world melancholy of Time Stops at is a time-travelling quality to Bond's world -- it feels suspended, outside the rush of modern NEVER GREW OLDTo read Ruskin Bond is to meet Rusty -- again and again. The boy with wide eyes and a curious heart lives on, not just in the books, but in Bond himself. Even at 91, he writes with the enthusiasm of a child spotting his age, his energy is infectious. He's said before that one must never grow too old to climb trees -- and it shows. His recent works are still brimming with life, mischief, and tender nostalgia. (Photo: India Today) Bond's fans adore him not just for his books, but for who he is. For years, readers would line up outside the Cambridge Book Depot in Mussoorie every Saturday, hoping to meet the legend in person. He would sign books, chat softly, share stories, and occasionally pose for photos with the same warmth you find in his recently, due to health concerns and the pandemic, he's stepped away from these public meetings -- but his readers continue to leave letters at his doorstep, hoping he'll read BY GENERATIONSOver the last six decades, Ruskin Bond has written more than 500 stories, novels, and essays, traversing every genre from horror to romance, children's tales to historical fiction. But no matter the genre, what ties them together is The Blue Umbrella, the poignant story of a girl and her umbrella in a remote village, to A Flight of Pigeons, set against the backdrop of the 1857 Revolt, Bond's stories always return to themes of belonging, loss, kindness, and the passage of stories for children -- marked by warmth and curiosity -- have become part of school curriculums and bedtime routines alike. There's a timelessness to he once said, 'Books are like friends, you meet them again and again.' (Photo: India Today) HONOURS, BUT ALWAYS HUMBLEBond has received the Sahitya Akademi Award (1992), Padma Shri (1999), and Padma Bhushan (2014), among many other accolades. But he has never let fame distance him from his a world of celebrity writers and viral authors, Ruskin Bond remains refreshingly unaffected -- still the man who watches clouds drift by from his window and writes about stories continue to inspire readers to pause, to observe, and to find magic in the mundane. In a noisy, distracted world, his books are gentle reminders to slow down and listen -- to trains, to trees, to The Room on the Roof once said: 'The world seemed very quiet, as though it were holding its breath.'And perhaps, when we read Ruskin Bond, we do too.
The Hindu
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Ruskin Bond books
'Memory is a writer's best friend,' Ruskin Bond writes in his latest book, a charming collection of vignettes and ruminations drawn from a life lived quietly, gracefully and always on his own terms. While the book, which hit the bookstores on May 19th, Bond's 91st birthday, is a definite must-buy, there are others by this beloved writer that you shouldn't miss. Here are some of them The Room on the Roof Written when Bond was just 17, this charming bildungsroman chronicles the adventures of a 16-year-old orphaned Anglo-Indian boy, Rusty, who runs away from home. Along the way, he makes deep, abiding friendships, experiences love and heartbreak, and garners life-enriching experiences, with his coming-of-age journey spilling into Bond's next book, Vagrants In The Valley. The Room on the Roof, which went on to win the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize in 1957, is also a portrait of post-independence Dehradun, taking you straight into the heart of the markets, bylanes, food and culture of this town, located on the foothills of the Himalayas. A Flight of Pigeons Set in Shajahanpur, around the time of the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, A Flight of Pigeons tells the story of a young girl, Ruth Labadoor, who witnesses her father being murdered in front of her in a church by the mutineers and is forced to go into hiding with her family. The book, which was made into a film, Junoon, by Shyam Benegal, details how the family survives this turbulent period. Rain in the Mountains: Notes from the Himalayas 'It is always the same with mountains. Once you have lived with them for any length of time, you belong to them. There is no escape,' writes Bond in his 1993 book Rain In The Mountains: Notes From The Himalayas, a semi-autobiographical selection of musings, essays, poems and stories, chosen from writing created over a twenty-five-year period, between the seventies and the nineties. In Grandfather's Garden A personal favourite that always leaves me chortling and wanting more, In Grandfather's Garden has a vast selection of unforgettable characters, both human and non-human. These include the rather high-strung Aunt Mabel, an incredibly annoying Uncle Ken, an extremely cool Grandfather with a penchant for snakes and crocodiles and a long-suffering, though fairly level-headed, grandmother. The Blue Umbrella Published in 1992, The Blue Umbrella, set in Garhwal, Uttarakhand, is a lovely little book about a little mountain girl named Binya and the dainty blue umbrella she falls in love with, offering a deeply immersive jaunt through small-town India.
