Ruskin Bond

Ruskin Bond, born 19 May 1934 in Kasauli, and lives in Landour, Mussoorie, with his adopted family is an Indian author of British descent. He wrote his first novel, The Room on the Roof, when he was seventeen. Since then he has written several novellas, over 500 short stories, as well as various essays and poems, all of which have established him as one of the best-loved and most admired chroniclers of contemporary India. Besides The Room on the Roof, his published works include the novels A Flight of Pigeons, Delhi Is Not Far, The Sensualist and A Handful of Nuts, and the short story collections Night Train at Deoli, Time Stops at Shamli, Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra and When Darkness Falls. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1992 for English writing, for his short stories collection, "Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra".  and the Padma Shri in 1999 for contributions to children's literature.