Ruskin Bond

Ruskin Bond Biography

Ruskin Bond is an Indian author of British descent who now lives with his adopted family in Landour, near Mussoorie. In 1992, he received the Sahitya Akademi Award for his short story collection, Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra. Based on Bond's historical novel A Flight of Pigeons, Shyam Benegal made a critically well acclaimed Hindi movie with Shashi Kapoor in the main lead – Junoon. Vishal Bhardwaj's film 7 Khoon Maaf was based on his short story Susanna's Seven Husbands. Bond made a cameo appearance in the movie in the role of Bishop as well. Award winning movie, The Blue Umbrella was also based on his story.

Ruskin Bond was born on 19 May 1934 in a military hospital in Kasauli to British parents. His father worked in Royal Air force. At the age of 4, his parents got separated and his mother got married to an Indian. Bond spent his early childhood in Jamnagar and Shimla. At the age of 10 he lost his father and his grandmother took care of him. Later Ruskin was raised by his mother. He completed his schooling at Bishop Cotton School in Shimla and got graduated in 1952. Then he went to his aunt's house in England and stayed there for four years. It was during his life in London when he started writing his first book.

His first novel, The Room on the Roof was the semi-autobiographical story of the orphaned Anglo-Indian boy Rusty which won the 1957 John Llewellyn Rhys prize. Once returned he worked as a journalist in Delhi and Dehradun. Since 1963 he has lived as a freelance writer in Mussoorie. His second work, Vagrants in the Valley was a sequel to his first book. Later he published several books and most of them were related to India.

Published: N/A

Updated: April 01, 2014