Thirteen-year-old budding writer, Sia Gupta recreates Mahabharata in 1,000 verses

A 13-year-old schoolgirl recently recreated the whole Mahabharat saga in a mind-blowing 1,000 verses. The author Sia Gupta wrote the entire ageless tale of love and hatred, truth and deception, intrigue and battle in verses. She titled the book “The Mahabharata in Rhyme." Surprisingly, this is not her first book.   

Gupta loves rhymes and wrote her first book when she was eight years old., naming “The Magical World of Poems". Later she even wrote "Tales in Rhyme," based on classic fairytales such as Aladdin, Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and Beauty and the Beast.  

Gupta's most recent work focuses her verses on the values of dharma, responsibility, and sacrifice to demonstrate how the Mahabharata is still relevant in the twenty-first century. 

More about the book 'The Mahabharata in Rhyme'

At the beginning of the book, she wrote “This epic tale you all should know, Which took place many moons ago!” In her book, she ended the narrative with the demise of the character Bhishma. The author painfully points out that the epic narrative comes to an end with the conclusion of the epic tale. Thirteen-year-old further wrote in verses “With Bhishma''s death, this epic tale is now done, Everyone had lost and no one had actually won. This story teaches us lessons to which we can all relate; We should learn from Bhishma''s life and Hastinapur''s fate!” 

From Sia's illustrated book, "The Mahabharata in Rhyme," she explores how the Mahabharata's themes are still relevant today, and how everyone can learn from Bhishma's life and the destiny that nearly destroyed Hastinapur. In simple poems, the author depicts the history of enormous battle between the Pandavas and the Kauravas for the kingdom of Hastinapur, examining the events, personalities and moral issues they encounter. 

The Om Books International imprint, Om Kidz initially launched the illustrated book during the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) 2021. According to JLF co-director Namita Gokhale, this is a wonderful recreation of the Mahabharata in poetry which brings the epic alive for a new generation.  

Prime Minister's YUVA Initiative for young Writer 

On the other hand, many juvenile wonderkids and literary phenomenons in the making, such as Sia, have recently risen to prominence. For them, Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced the YUVA, Young, Upcoming, and Versatile Author initiative, which is a mentorship program for young authors. 

The initiate aims to teach 75 budding authors under the age of 30 who are eager to express themselves and promote India's culture and literature internationally. Under the mentorship initiative, each author would receive a cumulative stipend of Rs 50,000 per month for a period of six months. 

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