An evening with Ruskin Bond

Ruskin Bond had been one of my favorite writers since my childhood days. He was the inspiration for me to write. Last year, I wrote a story “The Bond”, which was my dedication to him. This story has been published in the book “Only men please” this year.

As a child, I loved reading his short stories; which magically took me to those misty mountains and places of nature. I wished to meet him some day, even if it meant I had to travel as far as Mussoorie.It was my dream like Tom Hanks had in the movie “The Terminal”.

I never thought that by becoming a member in the Crossword Book Shop, this dream would come true. I was surprised to see an email in my inbox saying “You are invited to meet Ruskin Bond on 21^st Jan, at Crossword, Frazer Town, Bangalore". I couldn’t believe what my eyes saw…I re-read again and felt very happy that finally my dream to meet my favorite writer in coming true!

I told my wife about it and she was pleased to hear this too. We both reached the Crossword one hour before the book launch of “The Adventures of Rusty”. I bought four books of Mr.Bond. I wanted to take his autograph in one of these books.

He finally arrived at 7 PM. The crowd stood up to give him a warm welcome. Two kids read poems written by him. He unveiled his book and also read some part of the book. It was the story “Monkey Trouble”. After that, he took some questions from the audience and answered them mixed with humour.

Later, he started signing autographs for his fans. We stood in a long queue. When my turn came, I wanted to say something to him and I said, “You are my inspiration to write.”

He smiled and replied “Thank You” and signed on my book.

This was one of the most memorable evenings of my life!