Interview with Hindustan Times

Actually, it was the HTcity thing for Lucknow. I suppose I should copy+paste the whole article here.... since the link isn't working anymore. 

When the article appeared in the newspaper it looked like this:

yes.... under the headline 'small wonder'.... that's meeeee :) 

it was on the 3rd page of the paper.  

Here is what the article said:

SMALL WONDER!

Lucknow born Freya Abbas is an award winning author, poet, illustrator, and more

Barely 13 and Lucknow born Freya Abbas will stun you with her intellect and understanding of the world. But that's not what makes her special. The selfconfessed lover of historical stuff and supporter of indigenous rights is an author, poet, blogger, and illustrator. And her latest achievement is winning an international speed-writing contest in Canada. 

Born in Lucknow, Freya left for Canada with her parents at the age of two. That's where she got into reading and writing historical fiction. While reading Kenneth Oppel at the age of nine, she got inspired to write about things close to her heart- native Mexican people, especially the Aztecs and the Mayans.

So what inspired her to walk the road less travelled at this young age? "I have a tendency to read a lot of historical stuff, so yes,  that's what really got me started. The Kenneth Oppel series I was reading had nothing to do with the Aztecs or the Mayans. But a line in the author's note got me interested. Also one of the characters in the book was based on Aztec and Mayan mythology," says she.

At 11, Freya came up with her first book titled Misplaced for which she also did the illustrations. The book is about a 'misplaced' Mexican girl who feels she should have been born 500 years ago. "It talks about a girl's personal desire and also a struggle between two Mexican gods.... a conflict between mass awakening and destruction.... it's just a micro idea that connects to something major that is happening," she explains.

For the speedwriting contest that she won in the adventure category, she had to pen a minimum of 50,000 words in 28 days. And she completed her novel (OmeCuauhtli of Anahuac) well on time writing 61,000 words. But it required some serious research as well. "It took two years of research to write my first book and then this was speedwriting so I thought of whatever research I had done," she says. 

SLAM POET

Freya who doesn't let her writing interfere with school is also a poet. "I do a lot of poems and have won a team award in slam poetry. It's a type of poetry that's presented in front of an audience. It's almost like a speech except that it's more poetic. You go on stage, they pick random judges from the audience and so on and my team won," she shares. Her poems are based on the causes that she supports such as aborigine rights. 

What's next for Freya? "I want to write more about other time periods, cultures and mythologies. For example, the natives of Ontario and something about India," says Freya who also wants to write about Lucknow someday. As of now she is reading Alex Rutherford's books on the Mughals for a better understanding of Indian history. 

The Shah Rukh Khan fan who comes to Lucknow every year to meet her grandparents and family credits her mother for her success and says the need to remember things that happened a long time back inspires her to go further. "I think people should get a sense of the past if they want to imagine the future also people should feel proud of who they are," she signs off. 

well then.... what do you think of that article X-D ?!