“Why fit in when you are born to stand out?” – Dr Seuss
Nothing describes Aditi Sowmyanarayan than this line. Prolific blogger, award-winning writer and now a published author, Aditi has achieved much and she is still just a teenager. The first winner of the JK Paper Times of India AutHer Award for the Best Manuscript, Aditi’s book Gobble Thy Prejudice has been published by Readomania.
A non-speaking autistic person, Aditi uses text-to-speech to communicate. The written word is Aditi’s voice, the bridge that connects her world to ours. Not being able to communicate verbally forces one to be an introvert, but it also gives her the ability to observe people and comprehend what is not on the surface. As she says, “Growing up, I always enjoyed observing people. The thing with being autistic and a non-speaker at that is most people don't realise that I am observing them, and the ones that do, don't credit the existence of enough intelligence to comprehend what is being observed. We live in a world that presumes incompetence, but that is a story for another day. As a result, I have been, and continue to be, privy to many aspects of the diverse tapestry called humanity and I have always enjoyed spinning colourful tales, based on my observations, in my head.”
What Aditi did not possess for a long time, owing to her sensory differences, was a reliable way to put these tales to paper. Things began to change after she was introduced to technology. Technology was the catalyst that helped Aditi find her voice, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Writing for Aditi is catharsis in its absolute form. But given her challenges, it would not have been easy without the support of her parents who have been her eternal cheerleaders.
Her mother Shwetha Srivathsan elucidates,
“They say that parenting is a life-long adventure. You just have to do times three to that if you are the parent of an autistic child. Life becomes all about finding paths to tread with your child since none exists in the first place. With Aditi, we were fortunate to be blessed with educators who saw the potential she possesses and introduced her to technology, which helped her find her voice and calling in life. The AutHer Award for the Best Manuscript is by far among the most defining moments of our lives and we had an awesome experience with Readomania with the process of publishing Aditi’s labour of love. Today, the book is poised to reach a wide readership, and the word ‘excited’ can't even begin to describe what we are feeling. Thank you, JK Paper, the Times of India and Readomania. Here’s hoping that this is the first of many more to follow.”
Aditi’s father Sowmyanarayan Srinivasan says,
“Aditi’s journey as a writer starting from a blog to short stories to a novella has been fascinating to say the least. A simple change of introducing the right technology completely transformed our lives, giving Aditi the voice that she so much looked forward to. I am proud of her achievements and looking forward to several more milestones in her life.
Thanks again to JK Paper and the Times of India for the award and recognition and to Readomania for the publication. This is a big boost to her confidence and is encouraging her to write more and better.”
Aditi loves writing slice-of-life stories. She says that people like Kusum and Ramesh—her protagonists—are found all around us. They are people who don't let the family’s or society’s definition of the ideal shape their identity. Such a journey, many a time, leaves a person with baggage that may actually hinder his or her growth, and both Kusum and Ramesh are in that frame of mind at the beginning of the story.
“I like to think that both Kusum and Ramesh have shades of me and Vaidehi could well be my own mother—almost!” Aditi says.
Aditi is a prolific blogger. She has written on a whole bunch of things—Art, Carl Sagan, Taxi Drivers, School Admissions, Growth Mindset, Matrimony, and Autistic life experiences to name a few. “I just blog about what is on my mind and draw inspiration from my conversations with my educators, Shaheli Mukherjee and Varsha Ramdas, sometimes,” she says.
Varsha Ramdas, Aditi’s educator, says,
“I have had the privilege of not only being with Aditi through the process of her writing but also watch her mind work in so many creative ways as she formed the characters and scenes in this story. Despite her very young age, she has captured the everyday battles of those much older than her. Seeing her mind come to life is an honour to experience first hand and I am so excited to have her share this with her readers!”
Who are Aditi’s writing inspirations? She hopes that someday she will be able to write as well as Ruskin Bond and Salman Rushdie. “When I read them my mind conjures up visuals of what is written. I enjoy reading and I read different genres. I have just begun reading The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and I am loving it.”
Gobble Thy Prejudice deals with a very crucial life skill i.e. cooking. Hunger is a basic bodily need and either sex is not exempt from it. And is Aditi a foodie? Well, she has quite the sweet tooth and Toblerone chocolates, gulab jamoon, Tres leche from Magnolia Bakery and Caramel Macchiato are her favourite! And she loves dishes with Paneer in them and Sabudana Khichdi.
Aditi’s writing journey has taken off majestically and she has many many milestones to achieve. By her own admission, “I have just begun and my best is yet to be!”
The book is now available on Amazon. Click here to get your copy
Harsh Pati Singhania, Vice Chairman & Managing Director – JK Paper Ltd, says,
"The AutHer Awards are thus all about highlighting the ‘Her’ in the women authors, celebrating the art of storytelling, bringing forth contemporary issues and expressing their creativity by putting ink to paper. Most importantly, the award celebrates, acknowledges, and provides a platform to such women to be recognised and feel proud of their accomplishments.
At JK Paper, we not only produce Paper but also understand how it touches our lives. As the AutHer Award gets greater traction, it has brought to the fore many unknown women authors and enabled them to bring their stories and experiences to a wider audience.
This year we are proud to introduce a new category—“Best Manuscript” as part of the Award. This category is designed to encourage female school students in the age group of 14–18 to bring up their authoring and writing skills. JK Paper has undertaken not only to recognize but also to get the best manuscript published every year. Our sincere thanks to Readomania Publishing, who have come forward to join hands with us by publishing the Manuscript of our first winner Ms Aditi Sowmyanarayan. I also take this opportunity to thank and congratulate Aditi as her book will be a big encouragement for all the young and aspiring authors.”
Comments