Photo by Suzy Hazelwood from Pexels

I remember having to read the books पुस्तकें by Ruskin Bond, in the private all-girls Catholic School I attended. Ruskin Bond is a famous प्रसिद्ध author on the Indian subcontinent उपमहाद्वीप although little is known about him here in North America.

Origins

Ruskin Bond was born to British parents माता-पिता who at that time were stationed in India. His birthplace जन्मस्थल is Kasauli, India. His parents, Edith Clarke and Aubrey Bond separated when he was quite young जवान, with his mother eventually marrying शादी an Indian man. His father died early leaving him devastated तबाह हो गया था. Therefore,  his grandmother दादी मा raised him in Dehra Dun, India. He went to England for a few years but his love for India drew him back. He spent some time in Delhi but was unhappy there and so moved to Mussoorie.

Ruskin attended the Bishops Cotton school विद्यालय in Shimla and won many prizes पुरस्कार for writing even at that early age. He has written children’s books बच्चो की किताब, short stories, essays निबंध, and poems कविता in English. His first book The Room कक्ष on the Roof छत won the John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize in 1957 when he was only 17 years old. The book is autobiographical आत्मकथात्मक in nature and is the story of a 17-year-old Anglo Indian boy लड़का who lost both parents and had to live with his guardian अभिभावक who was tyrannical अत्याचारी.

Recognition

He has also won the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, and the Sahitya Akademi Award for his work.  Schools use his books for reading materials पठन सामग्री, while his book The Blue Umbrella छाता was made into a Hindi film winning The National Film Award for the best children’s film in 2005.

Unlikely Indian

Ruskin wrote his books in English but people from across cultures संस्कृति love his work. There are translations अनुवाद into Hindi available in PDF format so that Hindi language भाषा speakers can understand the beautiful सुंदर stories.

Bond uses the mountains पर्वत in Mussoorie as a backdrop for many बहुत of his writings. His love प्यार for India and for the mountain villages गाँव is evident in his writings. He likes to take walks along the mountain paths पथ, usually ending up in the villages or in a forest जंगल glade. His stories focus on simple village life ग्राम्य जीवन. He prefers to write in the morning सुबह as there are no disturbances.

Today he lives with his adoptive family परिवार in a simple home in Mussoorie. Indians count Ruskin Bond among their best authors लेखक. He has Instagram and Twitter followings as websites in his name नाम.