A writer’s day

Ruskin Bond, inarguably the country’s most-loved writer, gives Aditya Sharma a peek into his everyday routine that helps him produce wonderful books even in his sunset years

As I enter Ruskin Bond’s home in Mussoorie, I am struck by its simplicity even though it has now become something of a literary landmark in the touristy hill station. The living room is crowded with books, a few black and white photographs and literary awards. I walk into Bond’s room — it has a single bed, an old trunk beneath it, a table completely occupied with books, papers and manuscripts, and his famed window opening to the beautiful vista of misty green hills.

As a struggling writer, Bond rented this house for Rs 600 per month in 1980 and bought it some 20 years later as he began getting his much-deserved success. The 85-year-old writer of over 130 books is a confirmed bachelor. But he got to acquire a family quite by accident. In the late ‘60s, a man called Prem began working for him in Mussoorie. Prem got married and had kids. When the kids grew up, they too married and had kids. All of them now comprise Bond’s big family. Of the total 11 members, five live with Bond and the other six a few feet down in another house. It’s largely Rakesh and his wife Beena who take care of Bond, enabling him to write and live in comfort.

Extended family

Rakesh happens to be Prem’s eldest son. As I begin interviewing Bond, a couple from Karnataka with their two school-going daughters arrive. “I am a lawyer from Gulbarga,” the man introduces himself to Bond. Then, pointing at his youngest daughter — she seemed eight or so — he asks her to recite one of Bond’s poems that she had been taught in school. In her dulcet tone, the girl begins to recite, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, as Bond looks at her fondly. The proud father gets busy recording a video of his daughter singing before the eminent writer. “That’s one of my popular poems,” said Bond as the girl finished her recital. The two sisters touched Bond’s feet. “Please bless them sir,’ their mother requested the famed author.

“If my blessings are any good,” smiled Bond, “then I wish both of you long and happy lives.” As the family left, I asked Bond how he spends his day. “I wake up at about seven in the morning when Beena gives me a cup of tea,” says he. “I write between eight and nine-thirty every day—that’s when I get good ideas. I write in longhand and manage around 800-1,000 words. I keep writing till breakfast.”

Beena, who is seated nearby, reveals an interesting aspect about Bond, “Dada always keeps a diary and a pen beside his bed,” she says, “whenever he has an interesting dream, he wakes up and writes it down. He has often used his dreams in his stories.”

“What do you have for breakfast, I ask. “A fried egg with two three toasts. Or two plain parathas with pickle,” he replies.

Pickle love

After breakfast, at about 10, a girl from a local bookstore often drops in carrying Bond’s books that he autographs. This keeps him occupied for about half an hour. “Then I take a tablet for my blood pressure,” he says. “It makes me a bit drowsy and I take a siesta. My afternoons are reserved for reading, correspondence and a bit of writing. Usually, I start reading at 12.30 and read for an hour till lunch.” What’s your lunch like, I ask. “It’s mostly rice, dal, a vegetable curry, curd and pickle.” Bond’s love for pickle is well-known and also well-documented by him as, in many of his stories, pickles have found a mention. “I am very fond of pickles — garlic, hing, ginger, lemon, chilly — I love all of them.”

After lunch, Bond says he resumes reading. “I mostly enjoy old masters like Dickens, Maugham, Chekhov and Priestly. Modern fiction doesn’t appeal to me. It’s more about arresting words and phrases than a good story.”

Depending on his mood, Bond might take another siesta or finish his correspondence. “The siestas leave me refreshed to do more mental work,” he admits. Bond usually writes for an hour between three and five. “I seldom overwork to produce more words because quantity often comes at the cost of quality.”

Bond is currently working on three books — a collection of new short stories for Aleph, a memoir for Puffin and a small book on the trees of Mussoorie. “I take a cup of coffee in the evening and invite people I have to meet around five,” says Bond. And then as the sun sets and it starts getting cold, Bond calls it a day.

Bond typically likes to finish his dinner by 8.30 pm with a staple of two chapatis, some chicken or mutton curry with some pickle for sure. I retire to bed at about nine thirty after watching television. “I mostly watch sports and non-political channels.” Despite his celebrity status, Bond steadfastly refuses to surround himself with luxuries and remains a quintessential humble man. He continues to live in the same spartan way he lived when he was neither rich nor famous. I guess he knows that in simplicity lies the key to our — and others’ — well-being.