Ruskin Bond's new book dives into the humour in his own life and how he's learnt from it

Bond admits that funny things have happened all his life, and he finds them exhilarating. Seated here in his home in Landour, Mussoorie. Pic Courtesy/Shrishti Bond; Illustrations Courtesy/ Shamika Chaves, HCCB

Being Mark Twain: One would imagine that a writer as well-known and universally loved as Ruskin Bond could be confused for no other writer. Turns out, plenty of occasions have given Bond anecdotes about being mistaken for ‘John Ruskin', ‘James Bond', ‘Rudyard Kipling', and even ‘Enid Blyton'.

Once, he recollects, a little boy approached him, beaming with his mother, to ask for an autograph. The mother proudly shared how her son had loved the writer's book "Tom Sawyer". Bond decided to humour them and happily signed as ‘Mark Twain'.

Run-in with a platform thief: In 1976, Bond took a train ride to Mumbai to appear before the court of law on a charge of obscenity for a story that didn't agree with some moralists. Before he boarded, he was warned never to open the windows as several early morning thieves lurked around and were likely to grab wallets. He still opened it to air the compartment.

While he had managed to hide his wallet under the bedding, he had left his spectacles out and before he knew it, he was playing a game of tug-of-war with a thief over them. Though he won, he ended up in court with a crooked pair that kept slipping off his nose each time he bowed before the judge to utter, "Your Honour."

Hosting a mad tea party: When Bond was 16, he had received his first payment for a story that appeared in a national paper. To celebrate, he got jalebis, samosas, pakoras, lemonade, and such delicacies for his friends. He laid them out on the roof and went to watch a game of badminton with his friends. When they returned, they witnessed a barrel of monkeys gorging on the snacks. Baby monkeys fought over jalebis and laddoos bounced around like ping-pong balls. The monkeys left the roof in a complete mess. Luckily, the friends decided to contribute and set off to celebrate Bond's win over a chaat feast at a nearby spot.

Bond as a man-eating leopard: When the writer wrote an article about a man-eating leopard in Lansdowne that had been shot dead, he found himself thoroughly amused at a mix-up by the publishing team at the magazine. When the article appeared, it read "The Dreaded Man-Eater of Lansdowne" next to a picture of Bond, and "Well-Known Children's Writer Ruskin Bond" next to a picture of the leopard. "Better a dead man-eater than one of its victims," the beloved writer remarks.

Available Leading bookstores and e-stores
Cost Rs 399

Bond's funny picks

>> Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
>> The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
>> Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome
>> Swami and Friends by RK Narayan