"I don't think freedom of speech should be absolute. We should consider ourselves lucky to live in the country. There is no better place to live than India," said Bond at the third edition of the Tata Steel Bhubaneswar Literary Meet (TSBLM) here.
"Shall I like to live in China, shall I live in Vietnam, Bangladesh, Syria, Lebanon or some other country... definitely not," said the author.
Bond was reacting to a question on the controversy over the film "Padmaavat" and literary freedom.
The cherubic Mussoorie-based author, who draws inspiration from nature, spoke on climate change and said people should look after their natural surroundings which have made life possible to live in.
He said paper books can never be replaced even with the advent of electronic gadgets.
At the literary meet, children and young adults queued up to catch a glimpse of Bond who answered all their questions that centred on some of his cult books like "Room on The Roof", "Night Train At Deoli" and the Rusty series, among others.
He has some advice for the budding writers -- have a love for words, respect the language and be prepared for occasional disappointments.
The award, India's first and one of the most prestigious, recognises and rewards the best of Indian writing and Indian authors.
Sadhguru has been nominated in the nonfiction category for "Inner Engineering: A Yogi's Guide To Joy". His book will compete with "Devlok" by Devdutt Pattanaik in the same category.
"Nawabs, Nudes, Noodles: India Through 50 Years of Advertising" by Ambi Parmeshwaran and "The Rise and Fall of Nations: Forces of Change in the Post-Crisis World" by Ruchir Sharma will compete in the Business and Management category.
Indian authors with great following such as Ashwin Sanghi, Ravinder Singh, Durjoy Dutta, Sudha Murthy, Radhakrishnan Pillai and Chetan Bhagat also feature prominently in the shortlist, the organisers said in a statement.
This year, Virat Kohli's biography, "Driven" written by Vijay Lokapally is among the contenders. In the biography category, it will compete with "Khullam Khulla: Rishi Kapoor Uncensored" co-authored with Meena Iyer, "An Unsuitable Boy" by Karan Johar, "Challenging Destiny," Chhatrapati Shivaji's biography by Medha Bhaskaran and "Rekha-The Untold Story" by Yasser Usman.
A Lifetime Achievement Award was introduced in 2016 andwas conferred upon Ruskin Bond by the legendary Gulzar.
The awardees, sometimes discovered by the Award itself, have invariably risen to stature in the world of literature; making the Crossword Book Award a definitive barometer for excellence in Indian writing in English.
"When I write, I do it for myself. I just enjoy the business of writing any story or trying to please the imaginary reader who might be an extension of my own personality," Bond said at the Penguin Fever, an event organised by the Penguin Random House India to mark its 30th year in publishing, held at the India Habitat Centre here on Sunday.
The 83-year-old author, who now lives in Uttarakhand's Landour, believes his writing can be enjoyed by people aged between six to 60.
"I am a compulsive writer and even at times when my writings weren't getting published very much, I continued writing because it was just a natural thing to do," Bond said.
The author who has been conferred the Sahitya Akademi Award, Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan, went on to talk about moments he was left disappointed or discouraged when his books did not do well. But that did not stop him from writing.
"I never wanted to give up writing because I knew that would have been fatal. Once you give up, it is very difficult to start again. If you have confidence in yourself you must not give up. Never despair and if you despair, work on in despair," he added.
Asked whether he ever considered becoming a football player, something he loved in his younger days, Bond said that his decision of becoming an author has been the right one.
"I think I did the wise thing by sticking to writing because here I am in my 80s still writing stories, whereas it wouldn't have been possible for me to run after a football at this age.
"There's always something on my writing desk, be it an essay, short story or may be another memoir. I am like a grasshopper, jumping from one story to the another," Bond chuckled.
The author, whose autobiography "Lone Fox Dancing" was released earlier this year, said that he is ready with another book titled "Till The Clouds Rolled By" a sequel of his earlier book "Looking For The Rainbow".
"Till The Clouds Rolled By", which talks about his days in Delhi and his mother and step father, will be released next month.