Ruskin Bond says he was never a ladies' man
Legendary author Ruskin Bond, who chose to be a bachelor, said he was never a ladies' man. However, there was one occasion when he thought his neighbor was taking interest in him, but in vain. "Kamla (his neighbor) was taking interest in me; but when I got to know her, I discovered that what she really wanted was my help with her English grammar."
His friends' take on his glasses
He also revealed he had to wear glasses at an early age, as he had some problem with his eyesight. Bond's friends told him that he looked more like a writer after wearing glasses. He then remembered celebrated poet Dorothy Parker's words, "Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses".
Bond regrets his parents died young after "an unhappy marriage"
"I was too immersed in my writing to bother much with my clothes or appearance. Two pairs of trousers and three shirts were the limit of my wardrobe," Bond writes in his new book 'The Beauty of All My Days: A Memoir', published by Penguin Random House India. Bond also regrets that his parents died young after "not a happy marriage".
Got my father's intellect, mother's sensuality, says Bond
He further added his parents' marriage was the outcome of an impulsive love affair; it lasted seven or eight years. "It broke up for various reasons. My father's health suffered and he died before reaching 50. After years of struggle, my mother died in her early fifties," he said. According to Bond, he got his father's "intellect" and his mother's "sensuality".
