Lifetime Achievement Award for Ruskin Bond at Times Lit Fest 2016

At 82, celebrated author Ruskin Bond still has his passion for writing and literature burning bright, and the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Times LitFestival Delhi in India Habitat Centre on Saturday was a celebration of his life as an author, and the wonderful person that he is.
As an author living in a technology-driven India, Ruskin Bond has managed to keep his art as rustic and raw as possible.To him, nothing is as fruitful as writing on paper, and no subject as intriguing as a living person. “I take walks and dig around for stories. People have stories,” he said. His day too starts early with a cup of tea, some writing followed by a long walk in the woods and a series of naps. “Early morning is the best time to write – there is nobody banging at your door. After that I go for a walk, take naps – before and after lunch – and another one to recover from the last two,” he joked.
The author has spent a majority of his life in idyllic mountain cities; he treasures nature and believes he owes it back to advocate for its preservation. “We all owe something back to nature. Several plants and animals are on their way out. People say the world is going to end in 50 years of time. But I am not a pessimist, I am an optimist who thinks it will take another 150 years of time,” he said.
Conversations with him are full of small anecdotes, documenting his interactions with the people he meets every day. His memories of boyhood are the most cherished, and his writing is most enjoyed by children and young adults because he has managed to preserve his boyish mischievousness after all these years. When asked about his worst interview, he said: “The worst was in my headmaster’s room in school. Once a teacher had called me a doodhwaala, and I called her a doodhwaali in return, and it ended in a punishment.” Children in the hall were curious how an 82-year-old author managed to understand them and connect with them so effortlessly, to which he said, “Because I was too a kid once like you.”
He continues to be an inspiration to young writers, egging them on to continue what they love, despite all odds, because that is what will make them successful. “These days with so much of technology around, it is heartening to see youngsters who like to write. You must choose what you love, because if you do something that doesn’t match your personality, you will not be happy and successful,” he told a hall full of children, parents and adults, all awed alike.
By Krittika Sharma