Autar Nehru (Delhi)

Although she is yet only a class III student of the Presidium School, Delhi, Abhijita Gupt (8) is the author of two books. Her first published last September, was a prose and poetry volume titled Happiness All Around and her second, a non-fiction book We Will Surely Sustain was published in February this year. These feats have won her entries in the International Book of Records, World Book of Records, UK, Asia Book of Records and India Book of Records. Moreover, she has inked an agreement with Invincible Publishers, Gurugram to write four books.

The only child of Ashish Gupt, a chartered accountant working for Mother Dairy, and engineer-turned businesswoman Anupriya, and great granddaughter of revolutionary poets the Late Padma Bhushan Maithilisharan Gupt (1886-1964), and sibling Santkavi Shri Siyaramsharan Gupt (1895-1963), Abhijita started writing poetry at age five. “When she turned three, Abhijita could read complete sentences. Impressed by her progress, I bought her a collection of read-it-yourself books and by age five, she had completed four levels and even managed to build impressive vocabulary. On Mother’s Day the following year, she surprised me by writing her first full poem dedicated to me. It was then that we recognised the poet in her,” says Anupriya, mother of this gifted child author.

Abhijita’s maternal grandfather and several members of the extended family are medical practitioners. Inspired by their conversations surrounding Covid and medical treatment to contain its spread, last winter she wrote We Will Surely Sustain on the incidence and spread of the pandemic and its impact on her own life.

Driven by a generous nature, Abhijita donates a large percentage of the royalty from her books to Chhoti Chhoti Khushiyan, a non-profit working to eradicate hunger among the poor. She has also raised funds to help the underprivileged suffering income and job losses in this pandemic. “When I grow up, I want to serve poor people as a doctor. However, I will continue to write because I believe that’s God’s gift to me,” says this inspiring child author, now working on her third title which she expects to complete by October-end.

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