Fantasy, action, and Ramayana: Meet Vaishnavi Ananta, Hyd's 14-year-old author

Three teenagers stumble upon a time machine and travel back in time to the Ramayana era. This forms the theme for two novels written by a 14-year-old author from Hyderabad, Vaishnavi Ananta. In the 34th Annual Hyderabad Book Fair, Vaishnavi is busy introducing her book to the avid readers of the city.

The Jaz Gang Series

A combination of mythology and mystery, Vaishnavi's first novel is titled The Jaz Gang, a dangerous escapade, and the second one, a sequel to the first is named The Jaz Gang and the mystic warrior.

"I have chosen Ramayana because I wanted to explore more about our culture. I wanted to know how people lived 7,000 years back," says Vaishnavi, the young author from Bowenpally.

She also explains how her generation is more interested in Greek or Roman mythology and how they find their own culture boring.

Interestingly, all the illustrations in the two books were done by her and the second novel is self published by her.

The magical world of reading

Barring the norms set by conventional authors, Vaishnavi didn't start writing at a very early age. She started writing when she was 12. In fact, she says that she didn't even like reading books before that.

"Most of the authors would either be avid readers from a young age or they dream of becoming an author since a child. But I was never like that. My mom used to pile up books at home thinking that at least I would read. But I never did," says Vaishnavi.

It was after she started writing that she realized the importance of reading other authors' works

A person who hated reading once, now Vaishnavi is dying to visit every stall at the Hyderabad Book Fair and buy books. "I go into a magical world when I am reading. I can meet a lot of new people there," says Vaishnavi.

Vaishnavi's favorite authors are Sudha Murthy, Rick Riordan, Carolyn Keene. "I like Sudha Murthy for her simple, heart-touching stories whereas Carolyn Keene's works are more gripping. I love the way Rick Riordan illustrates the fighting scene and brings those fear emotions amongst the readers in the Percy Jackson series," says Vaishnavi.

Homeschooling

Unlike other kids of her age, Vaishnavi has all the time in the world to read, write, play and enjoy because she is being homeschooled.

"Though we are paying a lot of money, there is no proper development of children happening at schools. Children come back home after 4:30 and they don't get the time to play or do anything else," says Deepa Ananta, Vaishnavi's mother.

She also explains how homeschooling is pursued by 2 million kids in the US but it's still taboo in India.

Covid-19 came as a blessing to Vaishnavi. Her parents realized that she was not enjoying the online classes and enrolled her at the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS).

For a year, Vaishnavi is being homeschooled. Rather than being in the rat race of bringing marks, she now has time to do everything that she loves doing. She is also getting trained in Taekwondo during her leisure hours.

Once upon a time, Deepa used to pile up books for Vaishnavi to read but they always remained unattended to. But now she is very happy because her daughter wants her to gift her books on her birthdays.

Both the novels of the Jaz Gang Series are available on Amazon