Quotes from Ruskin Bond

In the '50s, '60s, '70s, before television became easily accessible, even the most well-known writers were not recognised. The writers remained mostly an anonymous lot then.

I write mostly for pleasure, and the reading should ideally be for pleasure, too.

If I'm really immersed in a story, I try to finish it in a few days. If it's a longer work, then it would take a few months.

If four or five days go by, and I haven't written anything, I feel incomplete.

My mother wanted me to join the Indian army, as the army was seen as a decent and respectable career to have. I shocked my mother by telling her that I wanted to be a writer.

I may not have become a good writer, but I managed to make a living out of writing.

No, I don't want to be a brand. Brand means I cannot go out for a quiet walk without tourists and fans constantly following me.

But the trees seemed to know me. They whispered among themselves and beckoned me nearer.

To return to my own trees, I went among them often, acknowledging their presence with a touch of my hand against their trunks.

There is money to be made in the market place, but under the cherry tree there is rest.

Films and books have been intertwined as far as my growing up is concerned.

I enjoy writing personal essays in the way of Charles Lamb because it goes back to the school days when I was good in writing essays.

My first, 'Room on the Roof,' was the longest book I've written.

I wrote 'Time Stops at Shamli' in 1956, shortly after 'The Room on the Roof' was published, and I couldn't find anyone to publish it.

There was Uncle Ken of mine about whom I wrote a lot of stories. I can always write stories about uncles and aunts and distant relatives. They have to be distant, though; otherwise, you'll be in trouble.

The transition from an English father to a Punjabi stepfather demanded an adjustment that was far from easy for a 10-year-old boy who had just lost his father.

Yes, I do seek solitude, but I am never lonely.

I have been naturally inclined towards mountains, trees, flowers, and rivers.

I am a sleepy fellow. I will take a nice long nap the first chance I get.

My desk is right next to my bed. So I sit on my bed. I write in a big notebook which is on the desk. And if I feel drowsy, I just have to slide into bed.

I keep a journal, like many writers do. It helps in writing a story, as you can use an incident from the journal and put in your story.

I won't usually just sit down to write. I'd have done it in my head already. I visualise a story just like a film strip running in my head. I guess that is also a reason why my books have such a visual element to them. And it's what I tell young writers: plan your story ahead.

I have always discouraged young writers from self-publishing, by which I mean going to a vanity publisher and spending your hard earned savings - say, some two-three lakhs - and getting your book printed. It's not published; it's printed!

Occasionally, I have written about stories related to crime, but I have never attempted a traditional detective story. So I want to write a true detective story.