KOCHI: Though she is just an 18 year old, for Sivasankari Syam life has taught her to be compassionate and simple. The daughter of central government school teachers, Syam Kumar S and Reema V, have been living a near nomadic life since childhood, shifting from place to place and meeting new people.
The Thiruvananthapuram-native now settled in Uttar Pradesh with her family has penned her first book, The Land and The C, which has chapters weaved from her life experiences and observations. The young author has released a teaser video to introduce the self-published book to the world. The video, posted on her father’s social media page, showcases the making of the book and the young writer has been applauded for her play with words by many readers.
The Land and The C has four stories and three poems penned by the author at different stages of her life, starting from when she turned 14 years. “Finally, I have completed my schooling and is also the topper of my school, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Prayagraj in UP. I wanted to soothe my mind and enjoy my hobby — writing and drawing. I planned the book as a surprise for my parents. I published it as an e-book to cut down the expenses. These are not fantasy stories as they are incidents and observations that I had witnessed in my life since I was one-year-old, relocating to various places like Kochi, Kottayam, Idukki, Rajasthan and UP as part of my parents’ job,” shares Shivashankari.
The constant moving nurtured Shivasankari to appreciate little things in life, including the only six-hour power supply in her house at Meja Khas, inside the preserved forest area in UP. Her poems, A Pinch of Salt, Dear Son and Laws communicate in-depth meanings. The earthquakes and floods in UP and gusty winds and scarcity of water and electricity in Rajasthan helped her to live a simple life and appreciate the little pleasures in life.
“It was not a struggle but an experience. We moved around with our mother more as father was appointed at a different place away from us. So, I had to enjoy and learn from my surroundings. Even in the 21st century, my sister and I along with the other children experienced poor technological support for education. It took me three days to upload the contents of the book to the publishing software due to the low data network. My book is an address about the struggles children have to go through in the rural parts of the country,” says the young author.