Guwahati: At 13, he carries a mature head on his shoulders and dons a “thinking hat,” quite literally, after having penned a science-fiction book to become one of the youngest authors in the country.
Jorhat-born Vidhu Kota’s Cantend: And So It Begins, published by Partridge Publications, is now doing the rounds online and in stores across the world.
The teenager’s imagination goes about 3,000 years in the future – to the year 5025 – when the earth is destroyed and disappeared.
“People start living on a flat replica in 5025 and believe that the recreated Grand Canyon on the flat replica has no end and that it is the only way to reach the destroyed earth, if anything was left. They start calling this entrance ‘Cantend’ (one that doesn’t end),” Vidhu told The Telegraph, when asked about the book’s unique name.
The adventure starts when scientist Norm Kenzy enters the Cantend, never to return. “His 13-year-old son, Dane, sets out on a search mission with two friends and thereafter meets a new species – Silleroids – who make the trio rulers of their kingdom, Vidhuslovia. They finally get to know where Dane’s father is, but, there are hurdles ahead to retrieve him,” he said, while revealing, in a nutshell, a part of the story.
Asked what inspired him to become an author, the young boy, who studies in class VIII at Sanskriti School, New Delhi, said, “I used to write poems from the age of seven. Besides, I love reading. But it was during a visit to a futuristic mall in Dubai, a couple of years ago, where I saw a sky-diving act that triggered my interest to write.”
The teen took about 18 months to work on the book. “I devoted about two hours every day. But there were a few stops and restarts,” Vidhu, who loves reading Rick Riordan, James Pattison and Ruskin Bond, said.
Illustrations, done by Guwahati-based artist Dilip Bhusan Sarma, had to be incorporated to make the fictitious characters “come alive” after consultations with the young author.
The book, he said, has text of a larger font, catering to children who are younger than him. “Now I am working on my second book, which is based on fantasy. But I cannot reveal anything now,” he said in a lighter vein.
Vidhu, who wants to be known as a bestselling author, thanked his family in the acknowledgment section of his book for their inspiration.
His father, Ravi Kota, commissioner and secretary of urban development and Guwahati development department, Assam, said, “With online sellers now, it is easier for child authors to reach out to a global audience. Vidhu’s book has appealed more to Western readers and so is finding more takers in the US, as of date.”
(This appeared in