Ruskin Bond turns 81, celebrates with kids

Tribune News Service

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Mussoorie, May 19

Ruskin Bond, the rusty boy from the hills known for authoring more than 100 books, namely “Adventures of Rusty” and other children’s stories, celebrated his 81st birthday at Cambridge Book Depot by cutting the cake amid his fans in Mussoorie today.

Ruskin Bond was flooded with a bouquet of flowers since early morning as people made a beeline for his house in Quaint Area Landour in Mussoorie, wishing him on his birthday.

The fans, especially children, had lined up several hours before his arrival at Cambridge Book Depot and were elated to see the him as he arrived around 4.30 pm.

Ruskin Bond, sharing his birthday with another student who was born on the same day, cut the cake amid loud cheers from his fans.

Bond also released two of his new books titled “Ranji’s wonderful bat and other stories” and “Rusty comes home” as part of his birthday celebrations.

Former Mussoorie MLA Jot Singh Gunsola, MC president Manmohan Singh Mall, UTDB member Sandeep Sahni, Pujya Mata Savinder Kaur, Sunil and Surinder Arora, Akansha and Hemali Sodhi, the publisher from Penguin, wished him on his 81st birthday.

The fans turned to the micro-blogging site to wish him on his birthday. Shekhar, a 12-year-old from Dubai, said, “Happy Birthday Ruskin Bond and waiting eagerly for more adventures of Rusty.” Another fan quoted: “Happy Birthday Ruskin; you are an inspiration to many budding writers.”

Another noted author Ganesh Saili, his close friend for the last several decades, said as the saying goes, Ruskin has now seen around a thousand moons. Wishing him on his 81st birthday, he said Bond is the creator of iconic character Rusty and is known for his love for the written word. He also said Bond is still writing as he was 20 years old and that is the hallmark of the greatest children’s writer ever.

Shivani, another fan, said the vivid description of characters has got her hooked to Ruskin Bond’s stories. Hemali Sodhi, the publisher for children from Penguin, said she was feeling ecstatic to be here to see the fans celebrate the birthday of the most loved author of the country. She said Ruskin Bond is a wonderful storyteller and his books are not restricted to one generation and with the different channels available now, his popularity has grown over the years. She also said fans around the globe would also like the two new books launched today.

Bond thanked his fans for the wishes and addressing the children, said they should celebrate every day as a birthday. Ruskin also said the new writers should continue writing in future too.

The prolific writer of over 130 novels, born in 1934, is best known for his novels such as “The Room on the Roof” and “Vagrants in the Valley” and Flight of the Pigeon, that was made into a classic film “Junoon”. He was awarded Padma Shri in 1999 and Padma Bhushan in 2014 and was expected to release two books and cut a cake with fans in Mussoorie on his birthday. Bond also made his Bollywood debut in Vishal Bhardwaj’s film “7 Khoon Maaf”, which was based on his short story, “Susanna’s Seven Husbands”.