New Delhi, May 19 (IANS) As Mussoorie-based author Ruskin Bond turned 81 on Tuesday, fans turned to the micro-blogging site Twitter to wish him and quoted many of his memorable lines to highlight the simplicity of his writings.
“Red roses for young lovers. French beans for longstanding relationships. Happy birthday, Ruskin Bond. Where would we be without you,” tweeted Kay Fernandes, a Twitter user.
Prasanna Peshkar posted: “There is a thin line between covalent bond and ionic bond and it’s called as Ruskin Bond (sic).”
Vivek Tejuja thanked the Sahitya Akademi recipient for making his childhood beautiful.
“Happy Birthday Ruskin Bond! You have filled my childhood and even adulthood with smiles, laughter and joy. Thank you so much for writing,” wrote Tejuja.
Creator of iconic character Rusty lives in quaint Landour in Mussoorie and is known for his love for the written word. He still writes on paper and can be reached at a landline number. Author of over 100 novels, he is best known for his novels like “The Room on the Roof” and “Vagrants in the Valley”.
The prolific writer, who was awarded the Padma Shri in 1999 and Padma Bhushan in 2014, was expected to release two books and cut a cake with fans in Mussoorie on his birthday.
His ability to give vivid descriptions of random things, mountains and hills and write prose devoid of heavy words has bestowed him with the title of “children’s writer” and through these narratives he has kept alive the charm of mountains forever.
“Happy birthday Ruskin bond. You describe the hills like no other. My summer holidays would have been very empty if it wasn’t for you,” posted a Twitter user.
Many of the fans also quoted the most quotable quotes of Ruskin Bond on the micro-blogging site to wish him on his birthday.
“She was less than beautiful but more than pretty — this is how Ruskin Bond describes a face to remember,” wrote a Twitter user.
“It is always the same with mountains. Once you lived with them for any length of time, you belong to them. There is no escape. – Ruskin Bond,” posted Amit Pundir.
Vishal Khandelwal posted: “As children, we are all individualists; it is only as we grow older that we acquire a certain grey similarity to each other. – Ruskin Bond.”
“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s learning to dance in the rain. – Ruskin Bond,” posted Rohit.
Many of Bond’s novels have been adapted into movies. The most popular ones are “The Flight of Pigeons” which was made into “Junoon”. Besides, popular Bollywood director Vishal Bhardwaj’s “The Blue Umbrella” was based on a novel with the same name.
Interestingly, Bond made his Bollywood debut in Vishal Bharadwaj’s film “7 Khoon Maaf” which was based on his short story “Susanna’s Seven Husbands”.