JOIN US'I love writing about people'
Never mind that the narrow streets of Frazer Town were clogged with cars parked on either side of the road, never mind there wasn’t any space to move around, people just wanted to see their hero, Ruskin Bond, in flesh and blood.
At the launch of Ruskin Bond’s latest book, ‘The Adventures of Rusty’, at the Crossword Bookstore, kids and grown-ups gathered in large numbers to watch the event.
The book was unveiled after a quick round of introductions and people were eager to hear Ruskin read excerpts from the book.
‘The Adventures of Rusty’ brings together his best, funniest and most exciting adventures. There’s Toto, the monkey that travelled in a bag on a train; an encounter with a leopard; life as a young writer in far away London; and returning back home.
The book has it all. After reading selected portions from the book, it was time for
interactions. A few kids from the audience recited a few of Ruskin Bond’s poems,
including ‘Grandma Climbs a Tree’.
Half-way through, one of the boys forgot a line and Ruskin had to complete it for him.
When asked what he liked writing about, Ruskin said, “I love writing about people and my encounters with them. All kinds of characters find place in my books.”
There was a long line of people, who waited to get the book autographed, and Ruskin, who appeared quite tired with all the travelling, patiently sat through the whole event.
“I am no good traveller but I do travel if it is absolutely necessary,” he said.
Those who were present were quite familiar with Ruskin’s body of work and had read most of his books. In addition to clicking pictures with him and shaking his hands, people had a lot of personal questions to ask him. He willingly answered them all.
Roshan, a class ten student said, “I love Ruskin’s book on adventures and his ghost stories. I keep a track of his work and as soon as I came to know about the launch, I dragged my parents out here to see him.”
Pramodh Prashanth, a professional, said that he grew up on a diet of Ruskin’s stories. “The stories are as exciting and adventurous as the man himself. I didn’t want to miss chance to see him.”
Priyadarshini Prabhakaran, a housewife, observed, “in addition to being a great storyteller, very few people know that he has also written a cook book with the help of his cook. I’ve been trying to get a copy of that. I am here to ask him more about that,” she said.
The recipient of several national and international awards, three of Ruskin’s
stories have also been filmed. Rusty’s stories were also made into a TV serial, Ek Tha Rusty, a few years ago. Ruskin lives in Landour, Mussoorie, with his extended family.