Ruskin Bond, one of India’s most beloved and cherished authors will be presented with TATA Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award for 2020 on November 21. Mr. Bond has a significant body of work, which is close to 100 books, across genres for adults and children. His writing has made him one of the most admired writers and has charmed all the categories of readers into lifelong love.
According to the release by TATA Literature Live!, the author’s celebration of nature through all of his writings has made him the first literary ‘eco-warriors’ of India, much before the phrase was coined.
The release further added that his semi-autobiographical work ‘With Love from the Hills’ as well the collection of short stories ‘Our trees still grow in Dehra’ for which he was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award, reflects his deep connection to both India and nature.
Mr. Bond will be presented with Lifetime Achievement Award during TATA Literature Live! which is also Mumbai’s largest international literary festival. A week-long festival from November 16 to November 22, 2020, will see world-renowned authors, thought leaders, poets indulging in talks and discussions.
Join us on 21 November at 6:30pm as India's most revered children's literary author, @RealRuskinBond
— Tata Literature Live! (@tatalitlive) November 6, 2020
is presented with the Tata Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award followed by a conversation with @VishalBhardwaj, live on https://t.co/KgKLH8j0CN & all our digital channels pic.twitter.com/9eA3OeGIQ3
Ruskin Bond on receiving the news of prestigious award:
On receiving the news, Mr. Bond stated that he is delighted to accept the award and that it's very thoughtful for recognizing his long literary life of almost 70 years. It was in the 1950s that he published his first in various newspapers of India and the first novel was in 1956.
He also informed that he is still writing, in fact, more than usual during this pandemic and already written dozen short stories which will hopefully come out in 2021. He added that while he will be presented with the award virtually, he hopes that next year he will be able to attend the festival in person.
Ruskin Bond: Other prestigious awards and recognitions
• In 1957, Mr. Bond won the ‘John Llewellyn Rhyz Prize’ for his first novel ‘The Room on the Roof’. The prize is awarded to British Commonwealth writers under the age of 30.
• Ruskin Bond has been recognized by the Indian Council of Child Education for his contribution to the growth of literature for children in India.
• In 1992, he was awarded Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel ‘Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra.
• In 1999, he was awarded Padma Shri and in 2014 with Padma Bhushan.
Some of the most famous books of Ruskin Bond |
| • The Room on the Roof • The Blue Umbrella • Delhi is not far • The Night Train at Deoli and other short stories • A Flight of Pigeons • Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra • Angry River • Cherry Tree • Susanna’s Seven Husbands • Rusty, the boy from the hills |
Ruskin Bond: Literary Background
• He was born on May 19, 1934, in Kasauli, British India, and is of British descent. His father, Aubrey Alexander Bond taught English to the princesses of Jamnagar Palace and later joined Royal Air Force in 1939.
• Ruskin Bond was sent to boarding school in Mussourie and then to Bishop Cotton School, Shimla, from where he graduated in 1950.
• He also won several writing competitions in school and also wrote one of his first shot stories ‘Untouchable’ at the age of 16 in 1951.
• In 1951, he went to the UK for better prospects and stayed there for two years. In the UK, he started writing his first novel ‘The room on the roof’, a semi-autobiographical story. It won the ‘John Llewellyn Rhyz Prize’ in 1957.
• Later he moved to London and started working in a Photo studio while searching for a publisher.
• After getting published, Ruskin Bond used the money to pay for the sea package to Bombay and to settle in Dehradun.
• Bond also worked for a few years freelancing from Dehradun and Delhi and sustained himself by writing short stories for magazines and newspapers.
• In 1963, he went to Mussoorie and edited a magazine for four years.
• In 1980, Penguin India approached Mr. Bond for writing some books. In 1993, it published ‘The Room on the Roof’ and its sequel ‘Vagrants in the Valley’ in one volume.
Past recipients of TATA Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award:
• Shanta Gokhale
• Sir Mark Tully
• Girish Karnad
• Amitav Ghosh
• Kiran Nagarkar
• MT Vasudevan Nair
• Khushwant Singh
• Sir VS Naipaul
• Mahashweta Devi
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