Shillong, Oct 12: Some kids keep diaries. Tiana Dora Nongkhlaw builds worlds.
In 2021, at just 10, she became Meghalaya’s youngest published author with Lost Angel and other stories — a book born from bedtime stories she made up for her little brother and greeting cards she had been writing since she was three.
Five years later, she has done it again. And this time, it’s bigger, braver, and deeply personal.
Tiana, a class X student of Loreto Convent, Shillong and not yet 16, released her first novella — Drifting Under — on Saturday. The book was released by Dr. Lalnunsanga Ralte, Assistant Professor, Department of English and Communications, MLCU.
It tells the story of Liron Rowe, a 16-year-old boy navigating grief, fame, music and friendship. But the story behind the story is just as moving.
“I began developing this story when I was twelve, and it has been my main project for the past three years,” Tiana said, holding her book for the first time.
She first called it The Piano Story. “Funny, because the plot has nothing to do with pianos,” she laughs. The final title, Drifting Under, stuck because that is exactly what growing up feels like sometimes.
What readers will hold is not just 100-odd pages. It is three years of growing up — writing between classes, homework and final exams, rewriting after mentor feedback, and refining it again for a year whenever school allows.
It started in 2023, when she was 12, under the guidance of her mentor Annemieke from Young Author Academy. Last year, just before her finals, she took a draft to “Uncle Sanga” — Dr. Ralte — who gave her feedback that was more fun than formal.
“Finally, being able to see my work in the form of a book, being able to hold it in my hands, is such an indescribable feeling,” she said.
Behind her is family — mother Gloria Jean Nongkhlaw, who always supported her father Banshemphang Tham, who did the hard parts of layout and design, friends who remember The Piano Story, and teachers who made her dream big.
“The characters in this story mean so much to me, and even if they don’t change your life, I hope they’ll mean something to you too.”
From a 3-year-old writing greeting cards to a 15-year-old novelist writing about grief and music — Tiana isn’t just writing stories. She is living proof that if you stick with a story long enough, it finally lets you hold it.
