Reclusive is a word many have used to describe children?s author Ruskin Bond. But enigmatic is more like what he is. Having written many novels and short stories and even having had a few made into movies, he was down in Mumbai recently to promote his book Mr Oliver?s Diary, a witty tale about a schoolmaster and his rumbustious students. Ruskin Bond speaks with Ayesha Dominica Singh about the characters in the book, how children?s stories have evolved, the Indian publishing industry and his cameo in Vishal Bhardwaj?s Saat Khoon Maaf, among other things. Excerpts:
Could you tell us about Mr Oliver?s Diary?
I wanted to write a funny book last year and this book was the outcome. It is the story of this rather eccentric school master in a boarding school in the hills, who keeps a journal in which he records all the trouble the boys give him and how they do their best to make life miserable for him. Mr Oliver comes through it and becomes quite popular in the end. He turns out to be a really good football player, amongst other things. He also has a little romance, when he falls in love with the lady teacher. Mr Oliver?s Diary has its ups and downs, but ultimately it has a nice happy ending.
Is there a real life resemblance to anyone or anything?
Mr Oliver is a combination of two or three teachers that I recall. There was someone like Mr Oliver at my old school, but in this story I have updated the school and made it a present day one. In fact, two of the mischievous boys have been named after real life people who were both in school with me. One is called Tata and the other one Mirchandani. I believe they will be my age now and they used to live in or around Mumbai. They don?t know that they have been featured in this story.
In today?s day and age of technology and modernity, how do you feel children?s stories or literature have evolved?
Children?s books have always been important. Even if we matured early and went on to adult books, we always started off on something that was meant for childhood. It could have been Alice in Wonderland, Treasure Island or Enid Blyton. Children?s fiction was rather ignored by publishers before, but they are taking it more seriously now in India. Today, Indian authors are also writing for children and being recognised. Hopefully, the trend will continue. Publishers in India started taking this kind of writing more seriously when they realised you could make money out of it. The Harry Potter books became best sellers and even outs old adult fiction. Publishers everywhere sat up and said, ?Oh, children?s books can sell!? So a lot of publishers who did not bother before have started publishing these books now.
Do the children of today relate more to fantasy fiction or can they still connect with the Enid Blyton kind of tales?
Fantasy fiction is certainly more popular today and again that is due to the Potter books. But of course, there are children who read Enid Blyton and books of a similar nature. I?ve noticed that a lot of new books are of the fantasy genre, but I?ve never been good at writing the genre myself. These trends come and go. I prefer the more realistic sort of tales like having adventures or or just humorous stories of crazy relatives, eccentric uncles and aunts. When I run out of stories, I fall back on relatives and when I run out of relatives, I write ghost stories. Children like ghost stories?they like that feeling of being scared. I had a little girl complain to me that my ghosts weren?t scary enough. ?I like your ghost stories but can you make your ghosts more frightening?? she asked me. My ghosts are not scary; they are the friendly and helpful type.
Do you feel that movies based on books will help children today read more?
To some extent, yes. Some of the classics have been made into movies like Dickens and Mark Twain and of course Narnia and Lord of the Rings. I think mainly Narnia and Lord of the Rings have attracted children to the books after seeing the movies, because those were books that were perhaps not too well known out here before the films were made. But classics like Tom Sawyer, David Copperfield have always been known here. The films would not have made much difference. Even with the Harry Potter novels, the books were already well established and popular before the films came out.
What is your opinion on the publishing industry in India today?
Publishing has come of age. Go back 20-30 years and a writer had to look abroad for a publisher. We had publishers but they were geared more towards school textbooks and academic books, not generic fiction. There are so many talented, new and young writers in India every week and month who are coming through, which basically translates into a very healthy sign for the publishing industry in India. Now we don?t have just the printed media, we have the visual and the digital space as well. The publishing platform is bigger than ever. Also, today more books being published, means that we have more readers.
With the advent of the e-book, has publishing gone forward?
The e-book is still at infancy. I hope it doesn?t make life difficult for writers. You can walk into a publisher?s office and say, ?Where?s my money??, whereas with an e-book I wouldn?t know where to go to ask for the royalties that are mine. I hope the printed book stays. Everybody said that with the advent of the Internet the printed word would go away, but more books are being published every year. Looking at it dispassionately, a book in itself is a great invention and hard to improve upon. It?s nice to have something substantial, which you can take to bed with you and possess and own. So I don?t think the book itself will go away that easily. But other forms of reading will no doubt proliferate.
We heard you?re doing a cameo in a Bollywood movie. How did this come about?
Ah, yes, I?m in it just for a few minutes. This came about because of Vishal Bhardwaj, whose current film Saat Khoon Maaf is based on a short story of mine, Susanna?s Seven Husbands, which I blew up for him. We?ve got to know each other quite well over the past few years since he made The Blue Umbrella. He asked me to come along and take a small part in it. By the way, I?m not one of the seven murdered husbands. I came down to the shoot in Pondicherry and then in Bombay, in an old church in Byculla, where believe it or not I play a bishop. I was told ‘You make a kind and jolly looking bishop, Mr Bond. Perhaps you missed your true vocation.?
Any new works in the pipeline?
Yes, I?m doing some new stories. They are more of studies on lonely people, failures; people who?ve dropped out and how they got to be that way. I?ve done five or six of them and maybe I?ll do one or two more. I?m a compulsive writer so I scribble anyway, even if I?m not being published. But, as my old schoolmaster said, ?Remember Bond, if you?re going to be a writer, a writer?s best friend is his wastepaper basket.? So if it?s something you?re not too proud of, tear it up.
Any advice for budding writers?
Don?t be discouraged or despondent. Disappointments will come; they came to me along the way. You just need to believe in yourself and persevere and keep writing. Be sure you can write because some people think they are great writers and they are not particularly good. Ego is pretty strong in writers particularly, as in most kind of artistic people. I say, let your friends see your work ? you?ll get some kind of feedback before you launch out into a writing career.