Pen and paper games: Arjun Krishna Lal is jack of all trades
This youngster has brought out the essence of college life in his novel
By : nuvena rajendran
Update: 2014-08-20 23:58 GMT
Bengaluru: At 19, Arjun Krishna Lal is more than just a student of Journalism at Christ University. He is a third degree black belt holder in Tae Kwon Do, he plays the electronic Veena for a local band and is now debuting as an author with his new book Wicked Games. This city-based teenager opens up on his journey as a writer and how his move from the USA to India, was an eye-opener.
Spending his formative years in the USA, Arjun says reading was a serious hobby for him back then. He believes that growing up in two different countries has been a gratifying experience. He explains, “As far as differences are concerned, I think that there, the system focuses on encouraging students to express themselves, while in India we are encouraged to conform to particular patterns.”
All the while, Arjun had a deep interest in non-fictional reading, “I started off reading about stars and astronomy. Later, there was a gradual shift to non-fiction oriented material to fiction.” Orhan Pamuk is his favourite author and he says, “The Museum of Innocence has moved me like no other book.”
Speaking about his book, Arjun explains that it is about the challenges faced by Indian teenagers. While Wicked Games is a work of fiction, he shares that much of the content of the book is based on his personal experiences when he migrated to India. “The crux of the novel was formed when I thought of writing for an Indian audience,” he shares.
Arjun is publishing his book as part of the Inked series, by Penguin which focuses on young adult fiction. “Writing from the point of view of an Indian student was a straightforward experience and hence, I honestly believe that teenagers will find the book highly relatable,” he says. About his experiences in Bengaluru, he says that it has been great with an endless source of writing material!
“From walking the streets at midnight, sleeping on the cold pavement, the nightlife to social work done with an animal rescue NGO, I’ve learned much outside college than I ever did on the campus,” he admits.
The book will be launched late in August and as a nervous author Arjun says, “I hope for the best. As an Indian teenager, I’ve written a book about the ways in which we are misunderstood. I hope readers will be able to take home something useful after reading.” He is keen on working on his next book on gaming, which is also one of his other interests.