Bond with the best

It’s been more than five decades since the time celebrated children’s fiction author Ruskin Bond’s first book The Room on the Roof was published.

He was 21 years old then. Born to British parents, Ruskin seems as Indian as anyone of us. Certainly a lot has changed in the India that was then and the India which is now. While Ruskin was in the city to read from one of his latest books Mr. Oliver’s Dairy, DNA caught up with him for a chat.

While it’s become easy for a writer to get publishers easily today, there is still something which has not changed about India. “It is still difficult for people living in small towns and villages to read books. I know children who have a desire to read, but unfortunately they don’t have the means. I hope it will change some day,” says Ruskin.

Ruskin misses the traditional sport of Gilli-Danda which has almost disappeared from India. “I was on my way to Delhi and the road was blocked. So we had to take a diversion through a village. And to my surprise, I saw children playing Gilli-Danda. It was a good feeling,” he says.

Does he think that children’s fiction is getting its due credit in the cluttered market today? “We will always remember the first book we read as children. Children will never start with reading books on war or peace. Writing for children is therefore very special.”