BHARATI PAWASKAR
An avid reader who has covered over 500 books, this SSC student from Ponda loves to write stories during his free time and he’s really good at it. A 60 page book that this teenager, Kartik Mahadev Chinchkar wrote was released on the day of his birthday, February 14 by Dr Aroon K Heblekar, ex-registrar, Goa University and ex-principal, PES College, Ponda.
‘Trapped in my Nightmares’, is the name of the thriller penned by Kartik, a 16-year-old class X student from SS Samiti’s Indirabai Dhavalikar HS, Ponda. “It’s a thriller, not a horror story,” claims Kartik who has already written two stories prior to this short novel and both have drawn the attention of the readers.
“Not keeping track of time, I just kept writing as and when I was free and so I don’t know how much time it took for me to complete this book,” admits Kartik.
It’s interesting to note that Kartik mentioned about a peculiar psychological disease that the main character in his short novel suffers from. However, later on, when his aunt asked him to Google and find out if any such disease really exists, he did that. And to his amazement and amusement, the disease that he had imagined and described in his story, does exist in reality. “It’s a rare disease called ‘Night Terrors’ which has resemblance to the one I described,” smiles Kartik who himself was surprised by this exploration.
Kartik loves to read books in his free time and writing is his hobby. Encouraged by his parents, teachers and friends, he participates in competitions that challenge his knowledge and more than often, wins them.
Though in SSC, Kartik has not decided which stream to choose after his SSC but he is sure of one thing - that he will continue writing as a side hobby throughout his life.
Parents Deepa and Mahadev Chinchkar are proud that their son has taken to writing at such a young age. Kartik has made Srikrishna V Desai, the headmaster of SS Samiti’s IVBD High School, Ponda proud too.
“The book is not a short story; it’s a short novel,” states Madhusudan Borkar who spoke on the book on the day of its release.
The story is weaved between four individuals - Troy (the main character), Vixen (his friend and roommate), James (butler) and Roxanne (a female psychiatrist who helps out to investigate the case) and is full of crimes, terror, horror, mysterious incidents. Troy is a victim of nightmares.
Vincelocke, Troy’s grandfather who died due to similar nightmares in the past left a large property behind. Everyone thinks that the nightmares are due to sleep disorders, sort of mental sickness. Roxanne goes deeper and investigates the matter.
“The teenage writer is very much careful about the clues of nightmares till the end. There are twists and turns in the story and one get puzzled about the secret. The secret is spilled on the last page. It’s a very interesting book to read, which keeps you bound to it till the end,” shares Borkar, who is in awe of the talent the young writer possesses.
Published by Nilesh G Polji Publication and priced at Rs 130, the young author has dedicated the 60-page book to his grandfather.
