20 Aug 2010: : As a kid, The Rain in the Mountains is one of the first books of Ruskin Bond which I gobbled up during a Summer vacation. Then came the Train to Deoli, One Night at Shaamli, The Room on the Roof …and ever since I devoured these, it has been a childhood dream to meet this Man who writes this beautiful. And when I met him in his fair flesh and blood at the Vodafone Crossword Awards 2009, I was thrilllllllled. His ever-smiling face, the rotund belly, the gentle persona makes him even cuter. As the chief guest and judge, his presence completely awed the daylights out of me.
It’s not just his books which get me to love him, but the fact that its his inspirational soulful writing which kindled the passion for writing in me. And today, I am a writer. If Gandhi was the Father of our Nation, I hold Bond as the Father of Writing. His simple smoothie style, the play of words, and the disarming humour he manifests in his style make his works simply yummy. Till date I have never hurried to get a celeb autograph in my life – nope, not even Aamir, when I was younger. But it is Ruskin who is the real Bond. So then from the last rows of NCPA where I was seated, I rushed towards the stage, almost ignoring the other people smiling at me, as they walked by…I approached him amidst the other eager fansm handed him my little handmade paper diary and thankfully he obliged. Wish he could have st
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One brilliant moment I say. You know he meets his readers at a small book store in Mussorie when he is around, every evening? You could maybe meet him then.
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