Children's author Ruskin Bond has said printed books would continue to be in demand despite the advent of digital literature.
Quoting the findings of a recent survey, the Sahitya Akademi Award winning writer said paperbacks are way ahead of e-books in terms of popularity.
"People are reading printed books in lakhs. The paperbacks have not been replaced as yet," Bond, who is here to attend a literary meet, said during an interaction with the faculty members and officers of a private university here.
Asked about the inspiration for his works, the octogenarian author said some of his books were based on real people, some on fictional ones and others contain a mixture of the two. "When I run out of people, I go to ghosts, most of it is invented," he said.
Bond said he had started writing when he was barely 17. His first book 'The Room on the Roof' was published in 1956. "I still cherish the memories of my childhood, boyhood and school days in Shimla," he said.
Recalling the turmoil before and after India's independence in 1947, the author said he was in a boarding school at that time. "I heard many things without experiencing it. They were about the communal violence in the wake of the country's partition... it was traumatic."
The author said he visualises the beginning, middle and end of a story in his mind before sitting down to write.
"Many of my stories are invented, but the characters are real.
I usually write in the morning, the earlier the better.
Visitors start dropping by as the day progresses," he said.