While most her age are still watching television or playing games on mobile phones, 13-year-old Nayaab Suhel has written a children’s book and got it published.
The book, targeted at children, shares the teenager’s passion for fairytales and is a culmination of two years of dedication to her passion.
Nayaab is a Class 8 student of the BSF Senior Secondary School in Shillong. Her father is a doctor with the Border Security Force in Shillong while her mother is a teacher at St George’s School in the same city.
Born in Burdwan, West Bengal, Nayaab’s inspiration comes from author Enid Blyton, whose children’s books have been something she has grown up with.
“My father’s transferable job has meant that we kept hopping from one place to another. As such, books have been my best friend. I am shy by nature and speak very little but I pour out my heart through my writings,” said Nayaab, whose whole family knows exactly what to get her on her birthday – more books!
“Being the only child and due to the nature of my father’s work, I never had permanent friends. Hence I developed a passion for reading books which ultimately turned out to be my permanent and best friend. This eventually instilled within me a desire to write,” she said.
Other than reading and writing, Nayaab has a passion for drawing and painting. She also loves to watch cartoons, especially ‘Sinchan’ and said she sometimes felt like being as naughty like the protagonist.
On what makes her book unique, Nayaab said that ‘Flamingo in Vamprickle Land’ is about an imaginary world of witches and wizards.
“Flamingo, the main character of the plot, is a young witch who is preparing to contest ‘The World’s Greatest Witch/Wizard Contest’. It describes her journey in a special vessel to an enchanting land, with foods never heard of before. There are enchanting spells which are bound to mesmerize the young readers. It’s a must read,” she added. “Once you read it, you will know how it is different. But I can’t hold back from disclosing that you will find spells never heard of before, because they are coined by me. Mention of foods you will never get in any other place than Vamprickle land is another feature. Further the mode of payment is surely going to amaze the readers and people would wish they too had a similar option available in this world and it also contains a special animal, which you will have to read to discover.”
The teen feels her book could help inculcate the habit of reading among children, especially at a time when children are shying away from reading books. It would, according to her, make minds relaxed and bring out the feeling that there was something beyond school books.
“I want to continue the passion for writing and become an author that resides in the hearts of children like my inspiration, Enid Blyton,” she said, adding that a JK Rowling quote comes to mind when she talks about the need to read: ‘I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book’.
Nayaab has also been a keen contributor of short stories, a few of which have been published in various local dailies.
The book is available in paperback and has been published by Notionpress. It is available on the Notionpress store as well as Amazon.
