products. A few years back I was working on a teen focused brand and was deep in research with today’s teenagers. The experience brought back a flood of nostalgia for my own teenage, spent in the late 80s and early 90s. I started writing down some of those experiences, in first voice, more as something to laugh over with my sister – especially reliving the shock and delight of first time cable TV watching – the world of MTV was definitely a far cry from Krishi Darshan!

But along the way, I started to get excited about the potential to tell a story that may be relevant to more.

I realized that the kind of challenges and experiences that teens faced today were more or less similar to the themes of my teenage. I also realized that the main difference between coming of age then, and now, was really that of the awareness and availability of opportunities in the world.

That is why, with my book The Year I turned 16, I am trying to do two things – one is to tell an entertaining and hopefully relevant story about the coming of age of a typical Indian teenager – my protagonist, Vinita Sharma, who is waiting to turn 16 in the summer of 1991, and writing her diary. The second is to make a softer point – that conscious awareness and deliberation on the multitude of opportunities present to today’s youth, is a first step to realizing one’s true potential.

Here is a brief description of the main characters in the book:

Vinita: The Protaganist

Vinita Sharma is a feisty, young teenager with a talent for writing, an outsized crush on Shah Rukh Khan, and the low ambition of marrying a rich guy (if Shah Rukh is taken, that is)

Vinay: Big Brother

Vinay Sharma, is Vinita’s ‘boring older brother’. He loves cricket, abhors ‘pesky younger sisters’ and is eternally pained by the relentless preparation for the IIT entrance exams that he knows he won’t make.

Vineet: Much Adored Dad

Vineet Sharma, is Vinita’s much-adored dad. A career bank manager, he is a simple man with simple pleasures – a cup of hot tea with his morning paper, a drive in his second hand Premier Padmini, and evenings with friends where he can sing to them and make up his own lyrics if he forgets the words to the song!

Seema: Saintly Mom

Seema Sharma, is Vinita’s saintly mom. A quiet lady who keeps in the background, working tirelessly to keep her home humming; her family greatly underestimates the depths of her passions and ambitions.

Naina: The Beautiful

Naina Ambwani, is Vinita’s very best of friends. She’s a cutie with a big heart – always seeing the good side of people and things. Her one ‘short-sightedness’ is her unnecessary embarrassment over needing to wear glasses.

Jaggu: the Clown

Jagdeep Singh Kalsi aka Jaggu is a close friend. A hilarious guy with a joke for every occasion, his two weak spots are his over-appreciation of the female form and lack of appreciation for people who exaggerate sardarji jokes.

Gargi: The Nemesis

Gargi Sengupta is one of the gang that Vinita reluctantly acknowledges as a friend. Tough and opinionated, with a devil may care attitude, she seem to be an open book; but she hides deep secrets that none of the gang can begin to guess.

Ashley: The Nerd

Ashley Matthews, complete the gang. A returned from America computer geek with a fondness for using too long words, he just rubs Vinita the wrong way. He isn’t too fond of Vinita either, or is he?

Marcus: The Stud

Marcus is Ashley’s American friend, on holiday in India. An All American young man with the looks to go with it, little does he know that he is a hot favourite to replace Shah Rukh Khan in Vinita’s heart.

Maggie: The Iron Lady with the soft heart

Maggie or Uma ma’am is Vinita’s beloved English teacher. A dedicated teacher and a strong woman to boot, she wants her students to achieve their fullest potential. To that end, she can be both kind and tough with them; and like Margaret Thatcher for whom she is named, Uma ma’am is never one to mince words.

I believe the book will appeal to young adults today, and the primary target group for the book is early teens to early 20s. At the same time, given the ‘twist’ in the tale, i.e. the setting in 1991, I do believe that the book will also appeal to those who love a trip down memory lane.

As for standing out among other books, I sincerely hope that The Year I turned 16 is an ‘and’ and not an ‘or’. There are some great writers out there with wonderful writing that touches and enriches one’s life. I have no intention or ambition to dislodge any of them; I’ll be delighted to be an add-on.

Deeptha Khanna spent her childhood all over India and graduated from IIM, Bangalore. Having lived in Mumbai, Singapore, and Berlin, she is now a country marketing manager for a leading MNC. She lives in Jakarta, Indonesia with her husband and son. She has written several short stories for children. This is her first novel.

Designed by Subhadip Mukherjee