To Rusty with love

The charismatic Ruskin Bond wooed the audience with his indelible charm and quick wit at JLF. In conversation with the audience, the prolific writer reminisced about his childhood and more

Scores and scores of readers of all ages were there waiting eagerly for the man who fired their imagination and created a fantastic world of ghosts, magic and adventure much before Harry Potters of the world made their debut. Ruskin Bond walked to the stage of Jaipur Literature Festival and people cheered, whistled and were ecstatic.

While a 50-year-old lady wanted to know if the adopted family he spoke of in his book was real; the 10-year-old reader said, “Mr Bond you are very cute. I love you and your books.” Another curious young kid wanted to know if Ruskin actually ran away from school.

“You can run away from school. But make sure you have enough pocket money. I didn’t and so the next day when I was hungry I came back home. On a serious note, do not run away from school. Make your teachers run away,” Ruskin said.

“You don't have to be going off to the mountains to start writing. If you are a good writer then you can write anywhere. It is just that I have grown up in the hills and so love being close to nature and it has been my major inspiration. I am never short of ideas,” he shared.

In fact, when he was sent off to London to live with relatives, he didn't like it one bit. “I had a job and had already started writing, but was terribly homesick. I was missing my friends. I was waiting for my first book ‘Room on the Roof’ to be published. It was taking a long time and I got 50 pounds as advance.

I immediately took a ship to come back to India. I was at Delhi when finally the book was out. When I went to one of the booksellers for my copy, I found it stacked at the bottom of the pile. And like every debut author I promptly took it and put it on the top.

The shopkeeper noticed this and took the book; put it back at the bottom of the pile saying, “Yeh nahi chalega.” And, I bought the book; only to prove him wrong. Sometimes we authors have to buy our own books you know,” he related.

On his many loves, he cheerfully admitted, “I had this bad habit of falling in love with every woman who was nice to me. First time I tried kissing a girl and she wanted to kiss me and we missed each other...I was 10-year-old then.”

Rusty immortalised his friends, relatives, parents and the demons – they were a part of imaginative fiction – and were experiences weaved into a fictional narrative. “I am in touch with all my friends. Every one of them is doing well. One ended up in Tihar jail and he is doing well for himself too.”

Agreeing to the fact that he was a lonely child indeed though he understood his mother more when he grew up, he sounds poignant when he says, “I learnt that we must not look for perfection, but affection.”
There are many characters in his books that are neglected and suffer loneliness. “If you are a lonely child, you are more sensitive to others. I see something of myself in them. So my empathy and sympathy go to them. Even today I get disturbed and upset if I see parents quarrelling.

In some way, it has an effect on children. I think they should first sort the children before venturing into their problems.”That said his father has been his major source of inspiration. “Although he was a stamp collector, through them he would teach me geography and history of various countries.

He would take me around Delhi and tell me stories about the monuments. My interest in storytelling comes much from these outings. He passed away when I was 9 but had left his mark on me.”But his mother did not want him to tell stories. “When I told her I wanted to be a writer, she said – don’t be silly. Go join the Army.”

“To become a good writer, one has to read a lot. There was no successful writer who wasn’t a good reader. Pay attention to grammar and composition. Try to have your original style. Say things simply, differently and clearly,” he added.

The prolific writer continues to write; his latest being ‘Rusty and the Magic Mountain’. Many of his books have been in reprint. Doesn’t he ever have a writer’s block? “Only when I feel lazy,” he admits in his inimitable style.