16-year-old Kashmiri author dreams to speak in TED talks India

BASHARAT RASHID

Srinagar October 12: At 16 this young author from Srinagar city of Jammu & Kashmir has a dream to participate in Indian  TED talks show.

Duha Bhat ,a resident of the Khanyar area of Srinagar launched her debut book “Oh cancer- you stole her”, when she was just  14.

Age should never be the bar to achieve something in life. This has been proven by Duha when she launched her book in 2018. Her flair for writing encouraged her to look ahead in her life,and now this little girl wants to be part of the TED talks show. Ted Talks is an Indian talk show hosted by Sharukh Khan with his witty and marvellous skills of presentation. Duha wants to participate in this show as a storyteller, besides is interested in pursuing her studies from Oxford University in the near future.

She says, “the idea to write a book flashed her mind after she lost a beloved member of her family to the battle of cancer “.

She said that the death of her beloved left her devastated. It took her almost a year to overcome the grief. During this period she once participated in an event and got an opportunity to speak a few lines on the stage leaving audience awestruck.

This was the turning point in her life , a young man Faheem Bhat  present in the function encouraged and motivated Duha to write .

Duha says,”I initially used to write daily diaries just like other girls of her age and wanted to become a philanthropist. However, people like Faheem changed my outlook and I concentrated on my writing skills.My friends,family  have been very enthusiastic in their support for my efforts. They have received my book warmly, read it and given their feedback .”

‘She also had to go through initial hiccups, but then her family support particularly her mother and grandfather kept her motivated and always taught her to stand tall, Duha says”

The young author  appreciated the role of  social media  especially News 18 urdu channel for lifting her career ,however  Duha thinks government  can uplift the career of  budding writers . They can carve employment opportunities out of this career.

Lastly, in her message to  young writers Duha says, “the experience of writing is euphoric ,however,it takes a lot of patience too. All coins have too sides to themselves,and such is the case with writing too.”

”Writing is a blessing and those interested in writing must inculcate the habit of reading  .It would not need a degree to become a writer . What we need though is  education, says Duha’.

She suggests ,”We should never lose opportunities and should learn to balance the things ,be it our academic curriculum or writing career . It’s all about efficient organisation of time, Duha believes.”