Travelling made her a storyteller

Renowned Moroccan traveller and scholar Ibn Battuta had said, “Traveling—it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.”

“Age is just a number to fulfil your dreams if you have interest and dedication,” says 12th standard student Kovida Yalamanchi whose first book ‘The Window Seat and Other Stories’ was released recently.

“The book is a collection of 11 fiction short stories, which I penned from observations around me during my travels. To it, I added my imagination.

A few stories were written long back when I was too young studying in seventh standard,” shares Kovida about the book.

Sharing a note on her inspiration for the book, the youngster who aspires to become a psychologist, says, “We were on a vacation in Katmandu, Nepal a few years back and the situation we faced to return to India during the riots there was one of the best inspirations for me.”

“Also, as the name of the book speaks, it has many incidents cited which I experienced while travelling,” adds Kovida.

“The hardest part while penning down the book was to keep the stories interesting, short and precise by thinking from a reader’s perspective as the book is mostly for youngsters,” shares the girl about the challenges she faced.

Ask her how she managed academics and her interest simultaneously, she says, “My first priority was school work.

I use to spend my weekends for writing the book and then most of the editing happened during my summer vacation.

My editor, who is also my mentor at the NGO for which I work, is one shoulder that I could count on always while writing this book.”

Speaking of the NGO, Kovida is setting examples not only in literature, but the girl is giving all proceeds from the book to the NGO ‘Asritha’, which is a shelter for runaway teenage girls who come from broken families.

“I always wanted to lend a helping hand for girls who wish to pursue higher education or join in some vocational courses, which can help them settle with better jobs in future and by this NGO, another dream of mine is brought to fruition,” smiles Kovida.

Writing has always been the girl’s strong suit. “My parents were my main supporters who always stood by my interest. And that motivated me to complete this book,” she says.

While most children at her age are busy in academics and enjoying the perks of social media, Kovida’s life revolves around reading books and enjoying music.

Combining her two interests, the girl founded an organised ‘Reading with the Tunes’ where music and drama related programmes are conducted.

So, what other books in the future? Kovida says that her next would be a long story about being brought up in India.