Eighteen-year-old, Shubhi Agarwal from Kanpur, one of India’s youngest best-selling authors, has launched her maiden novel, ‘Lakshmila – The Eternal Love Story’, which talks about the untold love story of Lakshman and Urmila and takes the readers through the unique spiritual love they had as well as the pain of separation they went through.
Shubhi Agarwal
A class 12th student, Shubhi started writing the book when she was fourteen years old. “I believe it was a self-actualization moment in class 9th when I realized that I should write this book and since then, I’ve been working on it.” she says.
Her interest in mythology and spirituality has drawn her interest in reading various scriptures and all the different versions of the Ramayana. This has in addition helped her in framing and structuring her novel. “The book is about the story of Lakshman Ji and Urmila Ji and their journey. It sings about their love, sacrifices, and bonds with other family members. It’s based on complete research from the Valmiki Ramayan, Kamban Ramayan and the Purans. It also reveals fascinating and unknown facts about the Raghuvansha. And most importantly, my book has equally given importance to both Lakshman Ji and Urmila Ji instead of focusing only on one character.”, mentions Shubhi.
She has also gone the extra mile to visit places like Ayodhya and Mithila as part of her research tour, to get a feel of the place and understand its’ culture. She explains, “As a writer, no matter how deep we go into our imagination, there are a few particular scenes that actually need to be felt to be written. I still remember how I wrote the Gauri Mandir scene sitting in the Pushpa Vatika of the Gauri Mandir in Mithila.”
When asked about what inspired her to start writing, she goes on to say that a fallout with a close friend due to a misunderstanding inspired her to write this book, for she wasn’t keen about writing or reading prior to that. “I wanted to prove myself to him and that is when everything began. He acted as a catalyst for me. I also believe God chose me as a medium to bring to light the story of Lakshman Ji and Urmila Ji.” she replies.
It took her 2 years to write ‘Lakshmila’ and then a year-and-a-half for the editing and publishing process. “I literally used to write everything in a book. I didn’t know anything about the writing and publishing industry. I remember going to my shop and telling my dad that I wanted to write a book. he gave me Rs.500 and I went to a stationary shop and bought a notebook and started writing. This went on for two months, until January when mom and dad took me to the World Book Fair in 2019. That changed my life. I shared my ideas with various publication houses and one of the editors of a big publication house advised me to write on MS Word.”, Shubhi reveals.
She wanted to dedicate all her time to writing but found it difficult because of her academics. She decided to appear for her class 10th exams from the National Institute of Open Schooling and left her school for a year to follow her dreams. “I used to give more than 12hrs a day. Spent nights without sleeping, and several hours of meditation as I wanted to give complete justice to the characters, and show their true feelings. I used to connect myself to God and then start writing.”, she adds.
Shubhi is currently preparing for her IPMAT examination to pursue a degree in business management. Besides being an author, Shubhi is also a blogger, content creator, and poet and runs a start-up of her own – SA Writing Services, a writing, and digital marketing services firm that she started at the age of fifteen. In her spare time, she also advocates for various issues on social media, including mental health. She was a former Wikipedia editor and a national-level debater. She is also a blogger and posts content related to religion and taboos in society, along with providing meditation sessions for people on her website.
Shubhi is already working on two books – a sequel to ‘Lakshmila’ and a poetry book.
She advises promising authors like her to continue writing and reading as much as they can. “Don’t be afraid of people’s judgment. Just continue to write. Interact with more people, know their views.”, she expresses.
‘Lakshmila – The Eternal Love Story' is available for purchase on Amazon, Flipkart, and all leading bookstores across the country. For more information, you may visit: www.instagram.com/shubhi.agarwal29/
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