DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH

He was born on 19 May 1934 in a military hospital in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh. He is the son of Abre Bond and Arith Clarke. His father died of malaria in his childhood, and after that, he was brought up in Shimla, Jamnagar, Mussoorie, Dehradun, and London.

CURRENT LOCATION OF RESIDENCE

He currently resides in Landour, Mussourie with his adopted family

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

In his early years, Ruskin used to live and study in a boarding school in Mussorie. Later, he did his schooling at Bishop Cotton School in Shimla from where he graduated in 1951. From the initial years of his life, he holds a huge interest in writing stories and won several competitions in writing. For pursuing his high school and for better career prospects he went to London for two years.

From a very young age, he has a huge interest in writing short stories, novels, and books. He also won several writing competitions in school like Irwin Divinity Prize. His first short story was “Untouchable”, which he wrote at the age of 16. At 17, he started writing his first novel ” The room on the roof” after that, he worked as a freelance writer in Delhi and Dehradun. He used to earn his living by writing short stories in newspapers and magazines., In 1963, he started living in Mussories and used to work as an editor in 1980’s.

When Penguin was set up in India and he got approached for writing books. In 1993, several non-fictions were published. The Best of Ruskin Bond was published by Penguin India. Since then he has written more than 500 short stories, novels, and essays like The Blue Umbrella. A fight of Pigeons, etc. Additionally, he wrote more than 50 books that were totally children-centric. His autobiography was also published (Scenes from Writer’s Life) which describes his formative years growing up as an Anglo Indian.

AREA OF EXPERTISE

His main area of interest is in writing and worked as an author of many books and novels which are mainly based on the stories of hills, mountains, children, etc where he actually brought up.

AWARDS

• In 1999, the Government of India honored him with the Padma Shri for his contributions in the field of literature.
• He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2014.
• Sahitya Akademi Award for Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra.
• John Llewellyn Rhys prize for The room on the roof.

MAJOR BOOKS AND NOVELS

Some of the very famous books and novels that were written by him are

• Room on the roof.
• The boy from the hills.
• A face in the dark.
• The tree lover.
• Once Upon A Monsoon Time.
• Delhi is Not Far.
• Angry River.
• Strangers in the Night.
• All Roads Lead To Ganga.
• Cherry Tree, The Great Train Journey.
• Children Of India.
• Owls In The Family.
• Dust On The Mountain, etc.