Ruskin Bond's life journey goes viral on World Book Day, fans call him a 'gem'

World Book Day 2021 is marked today on April 23, 2021. On this occasion, Humans of Bombay took to their Instagram handle and posted the life journey of Indian author, Ruskin Bond. In his story, Ruskin revealed how his godsons are teaching him to use social media these days while he says, “I’m very happy with my books, don’t make me a part of this mad world online.”

A look at Ruskin Bond's life journey 

Humans of Bombay shared multiple throwbacks and current pictures of Ruskin Bond and wrote his story in the caption. The author spoke about his journey and said when World War 2 broke out, his dad who was in Air Force, went to war. He sent Ruskin to live with his grandparents in Dehradun while he was 6. It was tough and he missed his dad terribly. After his parents divorced, they got a letter which said that his dad died of a bullet which left him shattered. When his mother remarried, he couldn’t accept another man in his father’s place and so he created his little world. He said, “I’d curl up with a book & forget about everything else. At the age of 12, I’d read 5 books a week. And just like my favourite authors, I began writing stories. I was 16 when my story was published in a magazine! Thrilled, I told Mum, ‘I want to be a writer.’ But she shipped me off to England for college.”

Later, he said that the next 4 years taught him how difficult it was to sustain as a writer. After college, he would juggle 4 part-time jobs and used to get exhausted but still wrote at night. Even after so much hard work, his work was rejected by every publishing house so he decided to move back to India. As he boarded the ship, he got a postcard saying that one of his stories was selected by a publisher and got a cheque of £50. By then, his mother and step-dad had moved to Delhi and his grandparents passed away so he rented an apartment in Mussoorie and began bombarding the newspaper. He revealed that one published story got him about Rs. 50.

Speaking of his bachelor life and his odd jobs, he said, “And in 1956, I wrote the Night Train at Deoli. I wrote a lot about falling in love with girls at train stations. But in reality, none of those girls reciprocated. So in the 1960s, I adopted my househelp’s kids. And at 87, I’m still a bachelor! But being a writer meant living hand to mouth, so I’d often do odd jobs in Delhi. And when I had enough money, I’d write.”

Ruskin Bond's books became popular in the ’90s. He realized he was popular when he was at a station and 3 kids saw him and exclaimed, "Ruskin Bond!" Further, he added that in the past 30 years his routine hasn’t changed much. He said, “I enjoy my morning hikes, watch TV & munch on mutton cutlets while writing. With age, I’ve started enjoying my naps too. On weekends, I go to the one bookstore here & talk to people. And now, my godsons have put me on Instagram–they keep teaching me how to use it. But I’ve given up! I tell them, ‘I’m very happy with my books, don’t make me a part of this mad world online.’”

Take a look at some of the comments left by his fans under the post.  

(Promo Image source: Humans of Bombay Instagram)