There's no retirement age for writers: Ruskin Bond

For prolific author Ruskin Bond, re's retirement for writers and life would be intolerable if he did t have freedom to write every day.

He considers himself a "fortunate person", having been able to make a living for nearly 70 years by doing what he enjoys most: writing.

Bond has come out with yet ar book "How To Be A Writer" which gives a glimpse into writing credo of man who has h an incredibly successful writing career.

book is peppered with nuggets of practical vice for every person who is aspiring to write and be published - all told in Bond's characteristic understated, tongue-in-cheek, humorous style.

Writing, for Bond, is simplest and greatest pleasure in world.

"Putting a mood or an idea into words is an occupation I truly love. I plan my day so that re is time in it for writing a poem, or a paragraph, or an essay, or part of a story or longer work; t just because writing is my profession, but from a feeling of delight," he says.

"Life would be intolerable if I did t have this freedom to write every day," he feels.

" important thing is to keep writing, observing, listening and paying attention to beauty of words and ir arrangement." According to Bond, he writes t to please everyone but himself.

"I am grateful for my continued independence and necessity to keep writing for my living and for those who share ir lives with me and whose joys and sorrows are mine too. An artist must t lose his hold on life. We do that when we settle for safety of a comfortable old . But re is retirement for writers," he writes in his book, published by HarperCollins India.

He believes being alone is vital for any creative writer though that does t mean that one must live life of a recluse.

"People who do t kw me are frequently under impression that I live in lonely splendour on a mountain top, whereas in reality, I share a small flat with a family of 12 - and I'm 12th man, occasionally bringing out refreshments for players!" Still he prefers solitude.

"I am t, by nature, a gregarious person. Although I love people, and have often, on an impulse, me friends with complete strangers, I am also a lover of solitude." He prefers walking alone to walking with ors.

"That lybird or wild rose would escape my attention if I was engd in a lively conversation with a companion. t that lybird is going to change my life. But by ackwledging its presence, stopping to mire its beauty, I have done obeisance to natural scheme of things, of which I am only a small part." As a writer, Bond has kwn hope and despair, success and failure, some recognition, but also long periods of neglect and critical dismissal. However, he has regrets.

"I have enjoyed writer's life to full, and one reason for this is that living in India has given me certain freedoms which I would t have enjoyed elsewhere. Friendship, when needed. Solitude when desired. Even, at times, love and compassion." Wherever Bond goes, he meets young writers or young people who want to write, and y always ask him questions.

So what is it that a person requires most to become a writer? According to Bond, some of qualities are: love of books, langu and life; an observant eye; a good memory; enthusiasm; optimism and persistence.

He vises aspiring writers to re, saying books are essential for creative mind, and good reers become good writers.

He also talks about writing routine, importance of tes, finding own style and voice, creating characters, different steps in publishing and never giving up in book, which has illustrations by Shamika Chaves and Chaaya Prabhat.