Ruskin Bonds with Jaipur’s school children

The Jaipur Literature Festival is back with a bang, again. And as always, this year too, the festival that celebrates words will see the great and the mighty wielders of the pen stride through our minds and hearts over these five days.

For the young readers of Jaipur, nothing could be bigger, or better, than interacting with the Ruskin Bond, as amply borne out by the huge surge of school uniforms at Chaarbagh where Mr Bond was in conversation with publisher Ravi Singh on the morning of day one of the festival.

Addressing the crowd at his session, “Scenes from a Writer’s Life”, Bond drove home the importance of reading for anyone who aims to be a writer, saying, “There is no writer who is not a book reader,” going on to add, “so far, I must have read some 10,000 books.”

Though he also highlighted how hard familial acceptance is to come by for writers, even him! “When I told my mother that I want to be a writer, she said, ‘Don’t be silly! Join the army,’” he said to the amazement of budding writers among Jaipur school children, who got a full dose of fun, intellect and tips on relationships from the celebrated writer in the space of an hour.

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“You shouldn’t look for perfection but affection in a friend,” he said, while dwelling on the art of friendship. Playing completely to the gallery, “Don’t run away from school; make your teachers run away from school,” he joked, making the students crowding every nook and cranny of Chaarbagh, giggle in delight at their idol’s sense of humour.  

And when the session was over, they lined up almost a mile long to get their books signed up by India’s favourite children’s author.

Picture Courtsey : livemint

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