I have nothing to do with 007, says Bond

CHANDIGARH, Nov 20: As Ruskin Bond got ready with his second autobiographical work, "The Lamp Is Lit”, Chandigarhians discovered the same old childlike charm in him that had endeared him to them through his umpteen short stories, novels and novellas besides a collection of 30 books for children. Hence Ruskin Bond’s interaction with those children, some of whom have grown up to be adults, and a few contemporaries at the Government Museum auditorium this evening had that childhood innocence about it.

The "Rendevous" with "Mr Bond", (he says he has nothing to do with 007 though he had an uncle of the same name, one "who was a dentist"), was arranged by Penguin Books India and the Capital Book Depot. After a reading session of his poems, which had the audience both in splits and in nostalgic mood, the interaction began with a question on the inspiration behind his first book, "The Room on The Roof”.

"That novel has a freshness, a spontaneity which one has at the age of 17. My inspiration came from my escapades that often put me into trouble and the books I read, mainly David Copperfield”, he said. He also remarked that there were works aplenty, some even better, in regional languages but which were restricted to their respective regions. "I have read a few of them, only translated versions. But the work can contain the essence of the original only when it is translated by the writer himself.” More such gems of sensitive observation made interaction with Ruskin a welcome change.