Eminent English author Ruskin Bond was awarded the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Fellowship at his Mussoorie home. Bond was named a recipient of Akademi’s highest honour in September 2021. However, due to his ill health, he could not be given the honour in person.  Sahitya Akademi president Madhav Kaushik and secretary K. Sreenivasarao handed the plaque to Bond at his home on May 11.

Who is Ruskin Bond?

• Ruskin Bond has written over 300 short stories, essays and novels and more than 30 books for children besides several other works.
• He is the recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1992, Sahitya Akademi’s Bal Sahitya Puraskar in 2012, Padma Shri in 1999 and Padma Bhushan in 2019 among other prestigious awards.
• Born on May 19, 1934 in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh, Bond has been actively writing for more than 50 years and has written in various genres of literature. 

Sahitya Akademi

• Sahitya Akademi, India’s National Academy of Letters, was established in March 1954 by the government of India. 

• It is an autonomous body under the ministry of culture with the objectives to work for the development of Indian letters and to set high literary standards, foster and co-ordinate literary activities in all the Indian languages and promote through them the cultural unity of the country.