Ruskin Bond is one of India’s most cherished authors. In a literary life of over half a century he has written close to 100 books across genres for children and adults.

His books for children have inculcated a life-long love of reading in generations of Indians. Mr. Bond has been recognised by the Indian Council of Child Education for his contribution to the growth of children’s literature in India. Many of his stories for children are taught in schools and have been adapted into movies (e.g. The Blue Umbrella, 7 Khoon Maaf) and a TV show called Ek Tha Rusty.

Mr Bond was an “eco champion” long before the term was coined. Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra, for which he was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award, and his other semi – autobiographical book With Love from the Hills, reflect his profound affection for, and connection to, both India and nature.

Born in India to British parents, Mr. Bond was sent to the UK as a young adult where he wrote his first novel, The Room on the Roof, the semi-autobiographical story of an orphaned Anglo-Indian boy named Rusty. It won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize for 1957 awarded to a British Commonwealth writer under 30. Soon after he returned to India and never left, settling in Dehradun.

Mr Bond was awarded the Padma Shri in 1999 and the Padma Bhushan in 2014. In 2012, the Delhi government gave him its Lifetime Achievement Award.