A way with words

Silky Bajaj

The art of writing is often perceived as one of the easiest things to do for certain people. The skills can be honed with time. And this is what happened with 16-year-old Class XI student Talish Rajamani Prithvish from Coimbatore. Talish, a commerce student, has a lot of achievements in his kitty due to his passion for writing and storytelling.

While most kids of his age are hankering after that one extra hour of play, Talish keeps himself busy with his novels, books and of course music.

At 13, he had co-authored a sci-fi book that was published as ‘The League of Little Stars’ which won him the “Aspiring Author Award” from his alma mater.

By the age of 15, Talish a merit student from The Trinity College of London, had completed his Grade 8 in Electronic Keyboards and Grade 5 in Theory of Music. He is now pursuing his Grade 8 Certification in Piano recital.

The seeds of love for stories were sown at a young age in his case. “I was barely three when my father and my grandmother used to narrate stories to me every night. This is where my journey of reading began. As they were not available every day so I started reading books on my own. Years went by and my interest in books only kept growing. Later, I began reading my father’s books”, says Talish.

I never asked my son to be a bookworm, rather told him to do constructive things. He is a focused child and I admire him for that. I made sure he never stays awake till late and now he is the one who wakes me early in the morning. –Prithvish Rajamani, father

Talish enjoys the works of Jules Verne, JK Rowling, Suzanne Collins, Dan Brown and John Grisham, but it is Rick Riordan’s work that inspired his own foray into writing.

He owes the credit of his sci-fi book to his father, Prithvish Rajamani, who has been a father and a mother to him since he was three. “He has always encouraged me in whatever work I do. There was a time when I thought of giving up my research work, but dad would say ‘one must finish his/her work which one has started’ and honestly my hard work paid off. I had never expected my story to be published, but it was a dream come true,” the young author shares.

With over 2,000 books at his home, the young boy has a lot of ground to cover. Talish has grown up in an environment where he was encouraged to not waste his time watching television shows and playing video games. “In the age of smartphones and other electronic gadgets, when students find it difficult to focus on their goals, I would ask my son to read a book and write a short review on it. Soon came a time, when Talish would finish a 600-page novel in just three days,” Prithvish said.

A poem by the young author….

ABODE

‘Tis the age

of innovation and invention

But where was I,

A lost, lonely soul,

To find asylum

In nature’s loving

embrace, in her

tranquil company?

Lo! I was to look no further

For I had found

that which I longed,

In this place so

calm,

The place, I truly belonged, here

in the

Serene outskirts

of a place long

forgotten…

(The 16-year-old speaks of reconnecting with his home, his abode during the lockdown and finding peace and tranquility)