Beautiful, poignant and funny, Ruskin Bond is spreading the joy of reading with the launch of his new book, Hip Hop Nature Boy and Other Poems. It is the first time his poems for children, both old and new, have been put together in an illustrated volume. Nature, love, friends, school, books—all his familiar tropes—find a place in this book dedicated to the kids of this world, who are his primary literary inspiration. Being launched on the occasion of 25th anniversary of the chain bookstore Landmark, and of Penguin India, Bond seems doubly excited as the celebrations only get bigger. “The funny thing is that for the first 30 years of my life, there were no book launches. Books just went into the shops. Some went for reviews in magazines. That’s how it was in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. Today, everybody has big book launches and its quite exciting to see all the pomp and show,” he says.
He wrote his first novel, The Room on the Roof, when he was 17. Today, at 78, with over 500 short stories, essays and novels, and 30 books to his name, he reigns as India’s favourite children's author in English. “Needless to say I love writing. If it is writing a book for children like this one, it’s an added bonus. The collection in Hip Hop Nature Boy and Other Poems, are from the last few years, 12 out of which were written in the past year. I am certain kids will love them. I found the kid in me while writing it,” he says with a smile.
Even though he thinks very well of writers of this generation, he is of the opinion that there may not be many more Ruskin Bonds in the future. “I am an old-fashioned writer. No doubt the current crop is upto date with all kinds of information, but I’ve always felt the present is influenced by the past. A lot of my stories go back in time — that is not very common. Most people want to write about what’s happening around them here and now,” he says.
Talking about the power of a good story, Bond sometimes remembers the oral storytelling traditions that have all but died today. “Except in some rural areas, this tradition has faded away with time, which is sad. A good book entails telling an exciting story and if you look back at the classics that have shaped literature today, like Charles Dickens, the Brontes, Jane Austen or even folk literature like Panchatantra, they’re all based on good storytelling. A good story will last forever,” he says, hoping his latest release will be one of them.