I am not really a city person.
— Ruskin Bond
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.
I do all my thinking lying down.
Writing is the only thing I am good for.
Unhappy and unsettled childhood helps in writing.
It is okay to experiment with language. Writers such as James Joyce, Virginia Woolf experimented with writing, but basically, one must have a familiarity with the language. And to have that, one must respect it.
Yes, I do seek solitude, but I am never lonely.
I suppose in the long run, it's the good work that outlasts the shoddy work, but there's enough room for all kinds of writing.
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 liked the old comic books, especially the funny ones like 'Popeye' and 'Beetle Bailey.'
I have an excellent memory - for books and authors, that is. I remember all the books I've read.
I've lived in small rooms, flats, growing plants in pots on window sills. I'd have liked to have had a full-fledged garden with all kinds of flowers and plants. I've never had enough money to buy a big enough garden space.
I'm rather fond of my awards.
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.
I love to sleep.
There will always be books as long as I am mentally capable of it.
I find it very lucky to be an Indian and living in India.
I keep a big, fat dictionary with me while writing.
If four or five days go by, and I haven't written anything, I feel incomplete.
Holidays can become tedious without something to read.
It's amazing to dwell in the world of fantasy and fear.
Sometimes good stories are created while documenting dreams.
You may not enjoy loneliness, because loneliness is sad. But solitude is something else; solitude is what you look forward to when you want to be alone, when you want to be with yourself. So, solitude is something we all need from time to time.
As you grow older, life seems funnier.
I've noticed people in India have developed a habit of hugging around people. I don't understand it now. I wanted to be hugged when I was young. Now, if someone wants to hug me, I feel only claustrophobic.
The Nehru years were rather very peaceful years. A lot happened in those years: dams were built, five-year plans were made, Chandigarh was built in front of my eyes. Those were the years I grew up in.
When I ventured into writing at the age of 17, I wanted to be a good and successful writer. I just wanted to write good stuff - poems, prose, stories, essays, everything.
I write mostly for pleasure, and the reading should ideally be for pleasure, too.
Change has to come. It's not always what you'd like. It's what other people like.
I am a sleepy fellow. I will take a nice long nap the first chance I get.
Instead of becoming a great shikari, as my mother and stepfather might have wished, I had become an incurable bookworm and was to remain one for the rest of my life.
When I was younger, I took life much more seriously.
I was a bookworm in school, and in those days it was easy to get books. Bigger cities had book shops.
I wanted to be a tap dancer when I was very young.
If you enjoy your journey as a writer, you will never find it difficult to write.
I enjoy the process of writing.
In India, not enough importance is given to writing for children. And what could be more important than the enrichment of young minds with great literature?
Respect the language in which you write. Be kind, develop good vocabulary, and be creative in writing beautiful sentences. Your prose should be your poetry when you write.
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.
Solitude helps you reflect.
In my twenties, I wrote a lot of romantic stories in which I always lost the girl.
I have been apolitical all my life.
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.
I like talking to visitors, especially children.
I think every writer wants future generations to read what he has written.
Children haven't changed - the world around them has. Their basic natures haven't changed. They like ice creams. They like to have fun, play games if they get space.
I wouldn't want a film to be made on my life, because I suppose I would only want them to show all the good things about me and hide the awful things, and that wouldn't be a very honest biopic, no?
I am a very personal writer. I write direct to the reader. I don't hold back.
I can't live in a room without a window.
If you live in America, you need a gun, and I am not very fast with a gun, so I think I would walk out very quickly.
