Ruskin Bond has been writing for over sixty years and now has over 120 titles in print novels, collections of short stories, poetry, essays, anthologies and books for children. His first novel, the Room on the Roof, received the prestigious John Llewellyn Rhys Prize in 1957. He has also received the Padma Shri (1999), the Padma Bhushan (2014) and two awards from Sahitya Akademi one for his short stories and another for his writings for children. In 2012, the Delhi government gave him its Lifetime Achievement Award.
‘I had placed one (owl) on a branch of the mango tree and was stooping to pick up the other, when I received quite a heavy blow on the back of my head. A second or two later, the mother owl swooped down at Grandfather, but he was agile enough to duck out of its way.’
