RUSKIN BOND ON TURNING 88: CRAVING FOR JALEBI, MORE SHORT STORIES

One of the most loved Indian authors across generations, Ruskin Bond turns 88 today! And the round shapes in the number 88 quite appeal to the Landourbased littérateur. “Two eights look like jalebis, don’t they? Jalebis are my favourite Indian sweet, so I shall have them on my birthday! My family makes sure there’s lots of cake each time,” says the author, who usually likes to start a new book or story around his birthday. And so he has, this time too! “I have started one already, about my walking days,” he shares.

Bond’s short story Song of the Forest — which is also the title of his recent anthology of short stories — is another glimpse into his great walking days. Describing the sights and sounds of the forest, Bond lets his readers experience the flowing of the stream, the blowing of a breeze and even the sawing cough of a leopard in the faraway wilderness. He says: “It’s a collection of stories, couple of new ones and some published previously, but they’re all fairly recent. It’s a book for the general reader, not just children.”

Reminiscing his younger days, the wordsmith shares, “Although I don’t walk much now, partly because of age and partly because there’s too much traffic on the road, I used to walk a lot. And that kept me reasonably fit, I don’t have any trouble with my knees... The walking also gave me stories to write because I would meet people or see the natural world. Even when

I was in Delhi in the 1960s, I used to walk through Connaught Place to Red Fort or Daryaganj, or in another direction to Rajouri Garden in the evening.”

Away from the hustle-bustle of the city, it’s the forest that keeps his tap of inspiration running, as “there’s no end to the things you can discover in the forest”. His love for Nature also reflects in his musings about birthdays. “I am not one for birthday rituals. For me, every day is a birthday; especially when you get into your 80s, you have to take it one day at a time. As soon the sun comes up, I say, ‘Happy birthday, world!’ We need to celebrate the coming of the day, because the future of the world at the moment is not very optimistic,” he adds. A master of the short story format, Bond recognises that it’s a hit with his readers as well as something that he, as a writer, likes too. He elaborates, “I enjoy writing a short story because it can be done in a day or two. I like to do it in one go or two-three (attempts) because of the intensity of feeling I put into it. You can say so much in a short story, sometimes more than you can in a novel.”

Sharing how he writes something every day, Bond says, “Publishers like to bring out books on my birthday, and sometimes two-three come out at the same time.” And what about gifts from readers? “I do sometimes get gifts. Readers are very kind and sometimes send me pens, because they know I write by hand. I use ballpoint pens usually. Perhaps my readers want me to work more and write more,” he shares.

For me, every day is a birthday. Especially when you get into your 80s, you have to take it one day at a time. RUSKIN BOND, Author