Nearly 40 of his titles are among the top 5,000 bestselling titles in India. According to Trilogy, the Bandra bookstore and library, “While kids choose his books with bright illustrations, adults value anthologies edited by him.”

If not a writer, Bond would have been a footballer. He tried out for a D-team for Arsenal FC when he was 17 years old

Bond was conferred with the Sahitya Akademi Award(1992), Padma Shri (1999) and Padma Bhushan (2014, not in pictures) 

He earned the nickname, ‘The Horse’ because he ate well, and he always ate what was put in front of him. He is extremely fond of pickles

Bond secretly wished to be a tap dancer after watching Fred Astaire but admits that his girth didn’t permit him to pursue it. In picture, (right) his study area has a money plant vine across the wall that he jokes "will strangle me in my sleep someday!"