HYDERABAD: Dreams really do come true when passion rises inside you. Landmark, from the house of Tata’s Child reading to Child, is one such platform for passionate readers and writers to fullfil their dreams. Aditi Anand, a 14-year-old girl from Hyderabad got the opportunity to meet eminent writer Ruskin Bond on winning Landmark’s Annual Storytelling Initiative called ‘Child Reading to Child.’ She meet the storyteller at Mussoorie recently.
“Before meeting Ruskin Bond, I was a little apprehensive about how a man of such great honour would mingle with his fans so easily, but he was sweet and kind. I didn’t feel nervous for a second around him. He had an amazing sense of humour which lightened up the mood and later he gave some tips about writing”, says Aditi. She loves reading all the works of Ruskin bond but “Tiger’s for dinner” is her personal favourite because it accompanied her throughout her childhood.
Aditi feels fortunate to have a supportive family and friends and gets most of the motivation from them. She claims Enid Blyton the reason behind her love for literature.” Blyton uses words in a subtle way to express emotions”, says Aditi. Apart from Blyton she loves reading JK Rowling’s “Harry Potter” and Jaqueline Wilson’s works.”
I frequently visit Landmark for their books and I have heard about this competition for quite some time and I have been trying year after year but couldn’t do much. This year was my lucky year as I got to meet Ruskin Bond. I think events like these help us in improving our self-confidence, vocabulary and pronunciation,” says the 14-year-old, a student of Delhi Public School, Secunderabad. She is also passionate about theatre and a member of the Nishumbita Ballet and Theatre group in Hyderabad.
Books de-stress Aditi. She spends most of the time reading and writing. She believes reading not just helps her in unwinding, but also gives her a lot of wisdom, knowledge and a perspective. When Aditi was asked about her current writing she said, “I participated in an Arts competition held by UNESCO and got the privilege to travel to Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan all alone. It was an amazing experience of five days. That is what I am working on currently.”
Aditi aspires to become a children’s author and pursue literature and psychology in Oxford. “Believe in yourself then anything is possible,” says the teenager.