12-year-old boy from Dharamsala pens book

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, March 27

Twelve-year-old Aryaman Mahajan, a Class VIII student of Sacred Heart School, has penned a novel ‘The Young Detective’. He now figures on the list of youngest authors in the world and probably among two to three in India to have penned a novel at such a young age.

The novel has been published by Create Space. The book revolves around an orphan, Akhil, who migrates to Mumbai and becomes a successful detective. Aryaman said he had to study tools used by detectives to write the book. The ideas generated were original, he said.

Talking to The Tribune, Aryaman said his father Dr Ashish Mahajan introduced him to the world of books and reading at an early age of seven. “The literary beauty of authors like Jeffery Archer, Ruskin Bond, Enid Blyton, Amish Tripathi, Rick Riordan and Dr Vithal Kamat inspired me to write,” he said.

“I decided to pen down the book in monsoon holidays when I was in Class VII. Initially, I thought that the project would be finished in a month, but later realised it wasn’t that easy. I used to write 500 words every day till 7 am in the morning before leaving for school. In the evening, I used to edit those 500 words. I had to continue the schedule for about a year to complete the book,” he said.

The young said he drew inspiration from his grandfather Dr VP Mahajan who would read out short stories to him. He said his mother Isampreet Kaur Mahajan had always been a pillar of strength. He said since his novel had been published in the US, it was costly to import it here. “A publisher from Chennai has agreed to publish it India, “ he said.

Despite having penned a book at a young age, Aryaman does not want to adopt writing as a profession. “I want to be an engineer and head a multinational company. I shall, however, continue with my passion of writing. The next book I plan to write is about a child’s outlook towards the world titled ‘I am toddler’,” he said.