Risha Chaudray is an everyday Indian teenager -- with big dreams. At only 16 years old, she's already a published author and an activist, and has dreams of going into business. But who is she, and how did she get here?
Illustrated by Heidi Chin
By Yash Sunkesula, Gavia Grewal
Edited by Praghna Palaparthy
Best-selling teen author Risha Chaurasia has written two books, Tales of Twinkling Tweens and Truce, and is currently working on her third book. Due to her interest and her family's involvement in the business industry, Risha wishes to pursue a future in business and finance. This led to her attempt to simplify finance and economics for teens. Her novels offer a teenage perspective on the troublesome obstacles teens face, as "an adult cannot accurately describe a teen's life.”
Risha promotes her books on her Instagram page, “straight.from.my.pen.” She also highlights stories from all over the world and touches on her current novels. These stories relate to economic and financial topics. For example, she has written articles about foreign reserves and the cost of coronation, both of which are related to economics.
Her current project, the “Changemakers'', is a platform to showcase the journey and impact of entrepreneurs. As a changemaker and activist, Risha aims to diversify the narrative of what it means to be an entrepreneur and the creator of an industry-leading company. She believes that the founders of each of these companies “deserve a platform to showcase their journey and impact", and her goal is to positively impact the world by showing unique people and their stories.
Risha is a high school junior -- a 16 year-old -- continuing her education in Indore, India. She has several Instagram posts that discuss current global economic issues and her opinion on them. In our interview with her, she stated that she sees herself moving towards a career in business instead of becoming an author full-time.
She began writing to give teenagers an accurate representation in large-scale media and books. She says that she believes teens are misinterpreted in a lot of literature. Since most teens read from adult authors, they never get the full scope of a teen’s emotions and the problems that they encounter. This goes for many novels, including some of our classics like The Great Gatsby. Risha told the MJC team that the average teenager is portrayed as unintelligent and someone who cannot control their emotions. Her novel Truce goes over the truth about teens, covering the lives of 5 individuals. The book underscores the issues teens face in India and informs the older generation on how teens really feel nowadays.
Her writing process is creative and takes several months. It starts with an idea, a random thought that seems promising in her head. She notes these ideas down in a journal and collects them over a period ranging from weeks to months. Then, she sits down with her mother, reviewing these ideas. Talking about how each idea would look in writing and how each particular idea would evolve into an entire novel. Then, Risha picks an idea that stands out from the others and feels more captivating. She takes this idea and researches it. “I love just going on Pinterest and finding posts and content.” She brainstorms like this over weeks, collecting pieces and writing down her thoughts. She always starts writing with the end of the book in mind, as it gives her something to work towards. This is a tactic used by several fiction authors and filmmakers alike. She backtracks from the end and pieces the book together in a rough draft. Then she edits “mercilessly.” The period for all this is 7 to 9 months for non-fiction and 1 to 1 ½ years for fiction. Her books are fiction, but her favorite genre is self-health.
When writing, she usually only has one issue: time. Now, as a high school student with classes and extracurriculars to compete with, writing has become a smaller and smaller part of her day. Her age was also an issue in the earlier years of her career, as people would not take her seriously as an 11-year-old. But she perseveres as an author nonetheless. When asked if her cultural background is in her books, she said, “Absolutely.” Her grandmother would tell her folktales as a child, and she took inspiration from these stories. Her books aim to be relatable to teens worldwide, presenting a "global" representation of the teenage experience.
Although Risha has grown up writing and reporting on various topics about finance and economics, she wants to pursue something other than this as a career in the future. She sees her current hobby as a hobby and wants to do something different later. Risha intends to continue to impact the world positively, and being a part of the Changemakers is helping her do that. She wants to continue having conversations with industry-leading professionals from all over the world. By doing this, she can share the “untold stories and unsung heroes with [a] community of learners.” The network connections she creates when she highlights someone's journey share a positive impact, which is a goal she wants to continue pursuing.
Comments