The Creators | Abhyanshi Tripathi

Devika Jamkhedkar, Class of 2021

The Creators is a fortnightly series of artist profiles of Ashokans who are actively involved in different creative fields including music, photography, creative writing, and visual or performing arts.

“Where there is a quill, there is a way” is a witticism of unknown origin, but it might as well be the trademark of Abhyanshi Tripathi, seventeen-year-old author. Writing is highly lauded as an intellectual craft and is imbued in fidgety children from the very start of learning. In spite of this initial phase of encouragement, writing to publish is often viewed as an ancient erudite’s task. All such preconceptions were shattered when we stumbled upon Abhyanshi, who’s impressive repertoire spans a published research paper, Crexert (a creative literature blog), and Collectio that made her a young poetic success.

While coming to Ashoka may have temporarily put her plans to write on halt, Abhyanshi has no plans to stop. I spoke with Abhyanshi to gain an insight into her journey through writing, and the ins and outs of her identity as a budding literati.

Devika: Your story is an exceptionally refreshing one — not many Ashokans can flaunt being published authors at sixteen! I’m curious to know the history of your writing. When and why did you first pick up the pen?

Abhyanshi: Thank you! Well, it all started with when I attended a Junior Youth Empowerment Programme in sixth grade. We had to teach people moral science, and I went through training there. In one of the activities, we were given words to create lyrical poems, which I had never done before. I received a lot of praise and motivation from my teachers when I recited them aloud, which was surprising because I never thought I could write poetry!

I started writing poems, then gradually moved on to articles. I really enjoy writing essays and editorials and write them more than poetry.

As for the history, the book, Collectio, was a project we started in eleventh grade. My co-author and I collaborate by curating our work. Before it was published, we honestly thought, “We’re new authors, no one’s gonna read this.” So, we decided to conduct a survey to understand what people typically want to read in literature, so that it reaches that target audience.

That’s a pretty elaborate process! What were some of your findings?

We came to several conclusions. We learnt that people want the title of the book they read to be catchy. So, when we visited schools to promote it, we began with writing “Collectio” on the board. Everyone wondered why it had an “n” missing until we told them that it was the Latin word for “collection”. That’s how we realised that such interesting tricks will get people to question the title and remember it as something new that they learnt.

We also found that most readers don’t like complex language, but like it to be simple and light. So, if you go through my poems and stories, you’ll notice that they are relatively simple. The aim was to reach the maximum audience.

These findings, along with many others, were not just for the book but were published in a research journal— “An Insight into the Ascendancy of Factors Inflicting upon a Reader’s Choice in Literature” in the International Journal for Interdisciplinary Research, a Finland based organisation.

That’s really quite a story! What was the reception like?

Collectio was released on Amazon in September and became an international best-seller in two days. At first, it was in the top 30 list, and then, fifteenth. It reached first place on the second day itself, so I guess it worked — the research worked!

It most certainly did! What do you think it made it number one?

I guess the research findings helped a lot. The title for instance, because obviously when you get to know something you didn’t know before, it excites you more. So people tended to think, “if the title is so interesting, the content would be more so.”

What do you think gave Collectio that “it” quotient, so to speak, that gave it an edge over the other books online?

I think it was mostly in the poems, that contain personal content. Like in “Dark Reality”, I talk about the dark nature of humans that we regularly experience, like hatred, jealousy and also immunity to such kind of treachery. That’s something that relates you to most of the crowd. “26/11” was also about a phenomenon that everybody observed. So, it makes it relatable to pick up real-life events and present them in the form of writing.

Clearly, a lot of extensive work went into finding out the correct audience for your book. Having read your poetry collection as well as your article “The Armour”, there is a clear growth, retaining inklings of your characteristic style. What was your creative process while writing the poems, as compared to while writing the article? How would you say it has evolved?

Initially, when I started writing poems, I simply tried to follow a rhyme scheme. My motive was simply to find the word rhyming with the last one in a sentence. There were particular ideas, but they were expressed mainly within the framework of the rhyme scheme.

This was the way I worked on poems. I switched to article writing because I was finding it hard to get words to rhyme. I recognised poetry as something that rhymes. Articles are more flexible in that way, as they are not guided by the need to make rhymes. If you’ve seen “The Armour”, you’ll know that I prefer writing about personal content and what affects me the most.

As for articles, I usually just pour whatever I’m feeling without being guided by certain lines. Frankly, poetry took a lot of time searching for what rhymes, whereas articles are easier. Another thing I do is that I never really create a second draft, but stick to the first one. I do edit to check for mistakes, but usually, I keep in mind that I’m not going to change it, so it has to be perfect.

That’s pretty unconventional. Do you think that takes more time then?

It does. But I think its better because the next time I think, I come up with different thoughts and feel like orienting the piece in a different way.

So, you tend to stick with your first frame of mind.

Yes. If I feel like I’m gonna change something, I start a new article, but never change the old one. Even if it’s of the same topic.

How does that help you?

Well, it definitely helps me contain my ideas, and come up with new ones. When I start with new articles, it’s not that I am discarding the old ones in any way.

I really appreciate your writing style; it’s very evocative and emotionally driven. Your poems discuss various intense topics, comprising harrowing truths about the darkness in the world. However, there are sparks of unyielding optimism as well, as seen in “Because peace begins with a smile”.

I’ll tell you a story about that one. My music teacher believed I could write well, and asked me to write a song for a competition. “I don’t write songs!” I said. “Poems don’t mean you can call me a songwriter.” But eventually I wrote it and it was sung in a competition. That’s why “Because peace begins with a smile” is repeated, it’s a verse.

Since you cover a range of topics, what inspires you to conceive of them?

Well, in reference to “Dark Reality”, it talks about when I moved to an integrated programme for JEE preparation. I didn’t like it there because I didn’t like what I was studying. I had been a good student in studies and academics alike, but my “sudden downfall” in studies came because of the subjects. Of course, there were some people who were happy about it, and I got tired of their smirks and laughs. I couldn’t tell my parents, so I just wrote it down. I performed it in an assembly. The next day, everyone whom it was about were extremely kind to me- they knew they were the ones!

You’ve evidently been precocious in your literary endeavours, with Crexert and an elaborate literature research paper under your belt! What was the family and peer influence on your work?

My mother writes in Hindi. She used to write about philosophical topics and read to me, so I think I get that from her. I actually didn’t tell her that I write and this book was getting published, so when I told her that it was a bestseller two days after it’s release she was shocked. “When did you start writing?” She had no idea. My co-author is working on a novel right now, and this project was actually his idea. Being in such an environment definitely influences you positively.

Which poets and writers do you enjoy and admire? What are your literary influences?

I really love Paulo Coelho and The Alchemist. I think the whole idea of finding sparks of joy among the darkness that I often write about is inspired by him. There’s a lot of pessimism involved, but points of optimism as well. His philosophical style has definitely rubbed off on me. Daniel Kahneman’s book Thinking Fast and Slow helped me add psychological notions to my articles. I’ve never particularly followed a poet, but I quite enjoyed Nissim Ezekiel, especially “Enterprise”.

“The Armour” encapsulates your tumultuous journey as a young writer. What was the factor that fuelled your drive and passion to continue writing amidst all the hurdles, criticisms and chaos?

So, when I started writing, practically nobody around me was interested in it. When I was praised for my work, my friends somewhat neglected me because they were rather jealous. Somehow that motivated me to continue since I was doing it in spite of them trying to downgrade me.

Most of all, it was how my ideas and thoughts flowed while writing. It gave me a unique sense of confidence in what I had created. People believed that my grades dropped because I was too invested in writing, that I would merely waste away as a poet. I hate the notion in people’s minds that poets simply sit idle. Regarding others’ opinions, I just told myself “you may not like seeing me write, but when you read it, you’re gonna you love it. You’re gonna come up to me and tell me how much you love it.”

I agree with you on that: writers are misunderstood. I strongly identified with your statement about your poetry shaping your identity, as an armour that has rusted but garnered maturity and resilience. What is your personal message to the poets out there, struggling in a society that overlooks their merit and worth?

I would say, don’t be influenced by what people around you are telling you about your work. Just take whatever positive things they say, and leave the rest. If it’s something about your style, then accept constructive feedback.

Finally, when it comes to writing poetry, just don’t look to follow a rhyme scheme! In essays and editorials, try to pour out your feelings and thoughts in a polite rather than arrogant manner.

It’s been rather enlightening talking to you! To wrap up, what’s the latest thing you’re working on?

I’m working on a project, based on the common actions and behaviours of people in certain situations, and putting it down in the form of a story. I still have to start it — Ashoka isn’t giving me a lot of time! But that’s the idea: literature and psychology combined.

It’s been a pleasure interviewing you, thank you for your time. All the best on future projects!

Thank you!