Ruskin Bond: Celebrated Indian Author of Nature and Nostalgia

May 19, 1934

Dearest reader,

On this day, we celebrate the birth of Ruskin Bond (books about this person), an English-Indian author whose evocative prose and poetry have charmed readers of all ages for generations.

Born in the foothills of the Himalayas, his writing is awash with the spirit of the hills and the gentle rhythms of nature.

Ruskin’s novels, The Room on the Roof and Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra, earned critical acclaim, and beyond them, he has written hundreds of short stories, essays, and children’s books.

In The Room on the Roof, Ruskin wrote:

"I don't want to rot like mangoes at the end of the season, or burnout like the sun at the and of the day.

I cannot live like the gardener, the cook and water-carrier, doing the same task every day of my life...

I want to be either somebody or nobody. I don't want to be anybody."

And in his evocative Rain in the Mountains: Notes from the Himalayas, he dreamt of a garden:

"Yes, I'd love to have a garden of my own--spacious, and full of everything that is fragrant and flowering.

But if I don't succeed, never mind--I've still got the dream."

Finally, in A Book of Simple Living: Brief Notes from the Hills, Ruskin confessed his friendly rebellion against botanical pedantry:

"Botanists have done their best to intimidate and confuse the nature lover.

But we should not allow ourselves to be discouraged; we have as much right to the enjoyment of wild flowers as they.

So I will disregard the botanist and I will go looking for the pretty flower that I have named Merry Heart.

It is always nodding and dancing in the breeze. It is a happy flower, deserving of a happy, light name."

Dear gardener, do you not feel inspired to seek out your own “Merry Heart” in the wild, to listen to the gentle urgings of nature unencumbered by too much learned authority?

Ruskin Bond reminds us that the heart of a garden is not only in its blooms, but in its spirit—one of wonder, freedom, and cheer.