With Ruskin Bond
December 7, 2006
Jolly Grant, Dehra (India)
On a day when I failed to make it to the ‘hardly-known’ Pari Tibba (the infamous burnt/haunted hill), the day ended with a pleasant meeting with one of my all-time favorite authors, Ruskin Bond.
On our way to Lal Tibba, we saw Ruskin standing on the narrow lane outside his Ivy Cottage in Landour area. He greeted us with a heart-warming smile and invited us (me and my father) upstairs. My father was very much surprised by how humble such a famous person can be. We sat and talked for a while in his sitting room. As expected it was full of books, old photographs, and the aroma that is ever present in his stories.
Although my main purpose of visiting Mussoorie was to meet Ruskin, I almost would have missed by him if his lunch company hadn’t been late. He was enjoying the Himalayan peaks from the narrow road when we drove up and stopped by the roadside. He said that someone was supposed to pick him up for lunch, but was running late. And lo! Before I could say another word, he invited us to come up for a while to have a chat. I told him that I have been reading his stories for almost 15 years and how I’d always wanted to meet the person whose pen could churn out words so simple, yet heartfelt.
We sat and chatted for a while before a magazine called him from Bombay, wanting to know his 5 favorite Authors. At the end, I asked him to recite a poem and autograph his book, “The Rupa Book of Ruskin Bond’s Himalayan Tales”. I knew that he loved the old American Opera music of Eddy Nelson and Jeanette McDonald, so I had taken their music collection with me from the States, which I presented to him.
To view the photos from my visit, click here
Here is his address: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shayargautam/341188051/in/set-72157601720375012.
Hope you meet him Madhumita 🙂
can ruskin’s best poems be send to my mail if so plz send b’coz i require them for my project
i see this video i like it thx…luckysr
or haan… pls meet this great man to Madhumita arora…mit…
Hi
Im a lecturer in English and ive read plenty of books by ruskin bond wen i was in school.I cried a lot wen i read love is a sad song .
Infact i wanted to marry ruskin bond and my friends still make fun of me foe dat. thought i still cherish dat desire bt i know he wil refuse my proposal bt if i meet him i wud try once wen i meet him which i want to very badly. if i fail to meet him before its tooo late i think i will take this guilt to my grave hoping to meet him sand ya also his family
i wish him all d luck
Dear Gautam,
Ruskin Bond is one of my favourite authors, just like you profess as well. I am planning to go to meet him at Landour.
Could you please send me his postal address or phone number os that i will be able to intimate him about my arrival.
I would be very grateful if you could send me the information on ashwin.gambhir@gmail.com
thanks
ashwin
Hey Gautam,
Stumbled upon your website at random and was greeted with such a pleasant surprise that it brought a smile to my face.I’ve always loved Ruskin Bond and his books have been a constant companion during rainy days by the window.I would have loved it even more if you had asked him questions about the stories behind his poems..i always wondered who he wrote that poem for ‘Its not time thats passing’ …Thanks for the post anyways…maybe someday i will ask that question myself 🙂
Hi Udita, thanks for visiting. I know, it was kind of a rushed meeting and since he put off his lunch meeting for me, I didn’t want to delay him by long. He did ask me to call up next time before coming so we could spend more time 🙂