Ruskin Bond (born 19 May 1934) is an Indian author of British descent. He was born in Kasauli (Himachal Pradesh) and has lived in Landour since the 1960s, having previously also lived, as a child and young man, in Shimla, Jamnagar, Mussoorie, Dehradun, and London. Most of his writings show a strong influence from the social life in the hill stations at foothills of the Himalayas, where he spent his childhood. He is considered to be an icon among Indian writers and children's authors and a top novelist earlier. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1999 for contributions to children's literature.