Chapter One – Shaping Influences on Ruskin Bond’s Life

Ruskin Bond, renowned master short story writer, was born on May 19, 1934 at Kasauli (Himachal Pradesh) India. He is the eldest child of the late Aubrey Alexander Bond, who was a British officer in the Royal Air Force in India. His sister, named Edith Allen, was born in Dehra in 1936. She was a victim of childhood polio, which left her with disabilities requiring special care and attention. Edith lived with her grandmother, but Bond grew up with his father in Jamnagar (Gujarat), Dehradun and Shimla.

Ruskin Bond had his primary education in the boarding school in Mussoorie. In his autobiography,Scenes from a Writer’s Life, Bond refers frequently to fond memories of his father. He describes in detail the days he spent with his father at Jamnagar, Dehradun, and Shimlad. His father’s job required several relocations, so Bond and his father visited new places and surroundings. This provided him ample experiences relating to different countries, cultures, geography, and political history, and it also developed his general awareness of things. Bond also got an opportunity to attend the classes his father arranged for Indian princes and princesses because Aubrey Bond was appointed in the princely state of Jamnagar as tutor guardian to the royal children. Ruskin Bond stayed in Jamnagar for five years, where he came closer to Indian culture than any other British child in India. He grew up in the company of little princes and princesses and was also friendly with his Indian cook, ayah (nursemaid), and gardener, and he did not mind differences of caste or social status. Ruskin Bond collected a lot of information during his stay at Jamnagar. After a span of forty years, he wrote a story “The Room of Many Colors” about one of the rooms in the palace, which was on top and full of small windows.

During this time, Ruskin Bond lived in a Tennis Bungalow surrounded by forests, with many species of trees, flowers, and bushes, where his father introduced him to the trees as the best friends of human beings. He always remembered this, and today, he still prefers nature to people whenever he feels gloomy. He also cultivated an interest in cinema and enjoyed going to see the movies along with his father. They saw movies likeBitter Sweet (1933), an operetta by Noel Coward, andTarzan of the Apes. Bond always remembered the happy days at Jamnagar because it was the best time he spent with his father whom he loved very much.

Bond was taught his first lessons from his father, who inspired him to read the classics of children’s literature, and he also enjoyed reading comics. His favorite book was Lewis Carroll’sAlice in Wonderland, which made him aware of the absurd aspects of life. Young Bond loved to wander about in the palace grounds and uninhabited places, which had the same attraction for him. It was also a difficult time for him because Bond’s parents were not getting along. Edith’s disabilities were also a cause of disturbance and aloofness for them. The most terrific and sad experience for Bond was when he was sent to a convent school at the hill station of Mussoorie because his father had to go to Delhi in 1941 during World War II. Bond wrote about this in “Life with My Father”:

The War wasn’t going too well for England in 1941, and it wasn’t going too well for me either, for I found myself interned in a convent school in the hill station of Mussoorie.1<