Kagaj Kalam

Ruskin Bond is prolific Indian author of British descent. He explains his Indian identity in his essay, “On being an Indian”,  “Race did not make me one. Religion did not make me one. But history did. And in the long run, it’s history that counts.” A gifted author who will always inspire writers to change the world with pen in hand. He adapted many genres of writing from his soul that speak to a common people.

Kagaj Kalam

About Ruskin Bond

Bond is an icon among Indian writers, children’s writers, and a top novelist. Many of his children’s books, shorts stories, essays, poems, and novels  are still captivating readers as well as critiques. He started writing very young. In school days, Ruskin Bond won Hailey Literature Prize, the Irwin Divinity Prize and several other writing competition. Since then a strong relation between awards and him has established that continues till the date.

Ruskin Bond Family:

• Father: Edith Clarke
• Mother: Aubrey Bond
• Step Father: Hari
• Sister : Ellen who lived in Ludhiana
• Brother: William who lives in Canada

In Ruskin Bond adopted family, there are children.

Ruskin Bond Biography

Ruskin Bond Biography is not easy to put together due to his wide work and experiences. Yet, efforts are the best way to tribute his character shaping work.

Early Years:

Son of Aubrey Bond and Edith Clarke, Ruskin Bond was born on May 19, 1934, in Kasauli, British India. His father Edith Clarke used to teach English to the princesses of Jamnagar palace. Ruskin and his sister Ellen lived there till he was six. Later, father Edith Clarke got opportunity to serve in the Royal Air Force in British time. Little Ruskin and his sister started living in Dehradun (his maternal home).

At the Age of Eight:

Shortly, little Ruskin went to boarding school in Mussourie. At the age of eight, his parents separated. Mother, Aubrey Bond left him to marry a Punjabi-Hindu boy, Hari. It was the tough time for him that complicated his relationship with his mother. He found her rarely there to offer love and affection so they end up grew distant and moved to Delhi with his father.

At The Age of Ten:

Undivided attention of his father helped him grow. These were happiest years for him. At the age of ten, he lost those happiest years when his father passed away with malaria. His posting was at Calcutta at that time.  Ruskin was at his boarding school in Shimla. His tragic departure left him broken.  Later, his mother and stepfather Hari raised Bond  in Dehradun.

Schooling and Education:

Bond’s early schooling and education was in Bishop Cotton School, Shimla. In his school years he won several writing competitions, aslo Hailey Literature Prize and the Irwin Divinity Prize. In 1950, he completed his graduation from there.  In 1951, when he was just sixteen, wrote his first short stories, “Untouchable”.

London Connection:

After competing his graduation, Ruskin Bond went to London in his aunt home for better prospects. He lived there for two years. At the age of 17 in London, he began to write his first novel, The Room on the Roof. The novel revolves around the life of an orphaned Anglo-Indian teenager Rusty, who did many jobs for living. The novel won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, (1957) . That is given to a British Commonwealth writer under age 30.

Work Life:

Ruskin did freelancing for few years from Dehradun and Delhi with newspaper and magazines. 1963, he moved to Mussoorie as it was his liking place.  In 1980s, a publishing mamoth, Penguin set up in India and approached him to write books. He wrote many fictions, nonfictions, short stories, and others. And till the date he is non stoppable.

First 20 years, he gave in learning, developing his thoughts, collecting experiences before shaping them in book.  Despite his suffering and lonely childhood, Bond developed an optimistic outlook on life. He chose the path of becoming an earnest writer that his father wished him to follow. Therefore, he found solace in reading books that habit was also inculcated in him by his father.

Ruskin bond’s favorite reads:

• T. E. Lawrence,
• Mark Twain
• Charles Dickens,
• Charlotte Brontë
• Rudyard Kipling

UNLU Ruskin Bond:

He is offering his experiences of writing in platform like UNLU where many students have already signed up.