Anything but rusty

More than 300 short stories, 30 books for children and nearly 60 years of writing – and you are still going strong. How do you manage it?
Well, I am a subjective writer. I write about my self, my feelings, experiences and so on. So as you get older, it actually gets easier. You have a lot more things to write about. The more you get to look back upon your life, the more people you meet.
 
A recurrent theme in your writing is loneliness. So how lonely is the real Ruskin Bond?  
Well, I had a lonely childhood. Maybe that helped me understand children who have been lonely themselves. I am not lonely now, I am surrounded by my family. But I still enjoy solitude. Writing is a lonely, personal art and every writer is fond of solitude. At least most subjective writers are.

So would you say you are more comfortable around children?
Well, they are more sincere. They have not yet learnt to hide their true feelings. There was this girl once who told me, ‘I like your ghost stories, but couldn’t you make them more scary?’ Well, given what they see on TV these days, I am not surprised.

Speaking of family, you have great grandchildren, but you never married. Why?
Well, if you see my earlier work, you will notice that they were quite romantic. To tell you the truth, I first fell in love when I was younger. Then I fell in love again, and again, and kept on falling. I just could not stop. I don’t think that is a good enough reason for not getting married. I suppose it just did not happen, that is all.

So, are you still hammering your stories out on your typewriter?
Oh no. I had to pension off my typewriters. They were getting too uncomfortable. I write by hand now. I am actually going backwards, technologically speaking (laughs).

Why not use computers?
I do not know why I do not use them. I prefer to write by hand. My grandchildren all have their laptops. They tried to get me to use them too. But they have given up. They have their mobile phones too. I do not. I use theirs at times. You see, I use other people’s technology, I do not have any of my own.
 
Does that include how you travel as well?
I have a car, I do not drive myself. I tried to learn once. It was a Landrover. In Defence Colony, there was a roundabout. I kept going around it, again and again. Then, the person who was trying to teach me told me ‘Okay now Ruskin, try to straighten it out’. I did, and I went through a wall. People were having lunch on the other side. They didn’t exactly invite us to join them. I ended up paying for the repairs.

When you are writing, do you have doubts, do you reject pieces you have written?
I have torn up pages, if that is what you mean. Often, you start a novel and midway, you are not as enthusiastic about your characters anymore and have to stop. That is why I prefer short stories – you can finish them in one go.

Your literary influences?
There were a lot. I was a voracious reader. Especially Charles Dickens. I had read all his works, cover to cover.

Your future projects?
I am working on a novel about the lives of five people. It is very elaborate, thus taking a bit of time.