It’s not easy to be a Bond. Especially when you are not a fictional character. And Ruskin Bond knows it too well. At 87, Bond is as much in demand from his readers as his fictional namesake from his fans. His pen has not aged over the years—he started writing at 17—and nor his stories dulled. His voice over a phone call, from Landour in Uttarakhand, is filled with feverish enthusiasm as he talks about his books and virtual interactions with students.
Bond’s latest short story, The Tunnel, published as a chapter book for children, was released recently. Last month, he also published a new anthology Writing for My Life that has some of his best poems, short stories, essays and memories. The writer with several awards to his credit, including the Sahitya Akademi Award, Sahitya Akademi’s Bal Sahitya Puraskar, Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan, has published over 300 short stories and more than 30 books for children. Earlier this year, he was also selected for the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship. He seems to never fall short of stories or new ideas for his books.
“I write an hour or two every morning. I can’t write for too long as I get tired quickly. But it’s good to be here and good to be alive,” says Bond, as we get into a quick chat.
Edited excerpts:
You are a prolific writer. Do you have a fixed schedule? Also, do you ever suffer from writer’s block?
I usually write in the morning. The earlier the better because then there’s no distraction. Nobody is knocking at the door. But sometimes it’s difficult to get started. You are sitting with a blank page in front of you and a pen in your hand. You have to get that first word down on the paper. But once that word comes out, it starts flowing along beautifully. On an average day, I am able to write two or three pages before my breakfast. It gives me a good appetite for the meal ahead.
Where do you draw your inspiration from?
I open the windows and there is the mountain, the clouds, the forests and people walking on the roads. I write about the life around me and it’s not difficult to find inspiration. Also, the longer you live, the more you have to look back upon in life. In India you don’t run out of stories, there’s never a dull moment. There’s always something happening around you.
How has the pandemic shaped you as a writer?
Writers may have been lucky as lockdown didn’t affect their writing. Most of us write from homes, so in a way, it resulted in me writing little more than I usually do. I couldn’t go out so I would sit with my notebook and write more often. In fact, I am also reading more than writing. The lockdown kept me busy with writing, reading, sleeping and I have to confess that eating more also happened. My waistline has increased.
Were you chronicling any stories around the pandemic?
I keep a diary and have been writing in it regularly. It’s a habit from my younger days. I write a lot of things around my life. I am a personal sort of writer. So, I published a part of that journal as an anthology.
The pandemic has been tough on young people, school kids especially, who couldn’t go out to play or to school. It’s been hard on youngsters. So many people have lost their friends and relatives. It’s been very hard on everyone. Maybe some of us who live in small places have been a little better off as the second wave didn’t hit us the way it did in Delhi and Mumbai.
You have started various master classes online and are also interacting with university students over Zoom? Was the transition to digital easy?
The digital interactions suit me most as I am a shy person. Interacting with academics or students by video or Zoom is more intimate in a way. It’s almost person to person. I am quite at ease doing it. It suits me better than addressing a live audience of 300 people. Though that can be fun too it gets tiring at my age.
I am illiterate technologically but my grandson takes care of the tech part. Since he has been at home for the last few months, I have done a lot of talks, interactions and book launches online. Is there any story that you want to write? Have you ever left a novel midway?
When I was younger, I would sometimes start on a novel and lose my enthusiasm after a few chapters. I might have abandoned one or two novels like that. Certainly not short stories. A short story, I might have written in my head, before I put it down on paper. So I never have trouble with short stories. But with longer work, sometimes your enthusiasm sags or you run out of ideas. Memoirs, essays, poems have suited me best because there you don’t falter.
Genre you wish to explore.
I have written in almost all genres. Now, I wish to explore a work of history. But with history, you have to do a lot of research. For that, you have to visit the place that you are writing about. It’s a challenge at my age. But, I did write a short account of the 1857 Uprising many years back and it even got filmed. It was based on a true account of a General who went through that traumatic period.
What are you reading these days?
On the table next to me is The Fall of Berlin, a historical account of World War II. I switch around multiple books at a time. I am currently also reading a novel translated from Malayalam called Anti-Clock by VJ James. I read crime fiction for entertainment and enjoy biographies.
You have been a published author for several decades now. What is the change that you see in the Indian publishing industry?
It’s amazing to see the number of young people who want to write. Certainly, the quality varies. Publishers seem to be doing well. Foreign publishers are now publishing in India. The number of established Indian publishers has gone up. This wasn’t the scenario when I set out to write. At that time publishers only wanted textbooks. Now, young writers are making money, something which was very difficult up till the 70s.
The Tunnel
By: Ruskin Bond
Publisher: Puffin India
Pages: 48
Price: Rs 199