His first novel, The Room on the Roof, published in 1956, received the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize.

His father, Aubrey Alexander Bond,[5] who was British, was born in a military camp in Shahjahanpur, a small town in north India.

His father taught English to the princesses of Jamnagar palace, and Ruskin and his sister Ellen lived there till he was six.

When Ruskin was eight years old, his mother separated from his father and married a Punjabi Hindu, Hari.

Following his high school education he went to his aunt's home in the Channel Islands in 1951 for better prospects and stayed there for two years.

In London when he was 17 years old, he started writing his first novel, The Room on the Roof, the semi-autobiographical story of the orphaned Anglo-Indian boy named Rusty; he did various jobs for a living.

After getting it published, Bond used the advance money to pay the sea passage to Bombay and settle in Dehradun.

The following year a collection of his non-fiction writings, The Best of Ruskin Bond was published by Penguin India.

Scenes from a Writer's Life focuses on Bond's trip to England, his struggle to find a publisher for his first book The Room on the Roof and his yearning to come back to India, particularly to Doon.

"The book ends with the publication of my first novel and my decision to make writing my livelihood", Bond said, adding: "Basically, it describes how I became a writer".

[15][citation needed] Being a writer for over 50 years, Bond experimented with different genres; early works include fiction, short stories, novella with some being autobiographical.

[12] The 1978 Bollywood film Junoon is based on Bond's novel A Flight of Pigeons (about an episode during the Indian Rebellion of 1857).

Several stories have been incorporated into the school curriculum in India, including The Night Train at Deoli, Time Stops at Shamli and Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra.

In 2005, the Bollywood director Vishal Bhardwaj made a film based on his popular novel for children, The Blue Umbrella.

Ruskin Bond made his maiden big-screen appearance with ain Vishal Bhardwaj's film 7 Khoon Maaf in 2011, based on his short story Susanna's Seven Husbands.

Rusty's character offers a teenager's perspective who is battling with his confusions about life, relationship, happiness and love.

[20] Most of Rusty's initial years are set in the location of Dehradun, a scenic place in northern India.

Ruskin Bond was deeply attached to Dehra and most of his stories are inspired by the hills and valleys of this region.