Weaving a fantasy through a mystic world

KOCHI: Naveen Neelakandan has been working in the IT industry for quite some time now and has proven his expertise in instructional design, storyboarding, and the e-Learning industry.
Now, he decided to add children’s book author to his CV when he started telling bedtime stories to his children. He says, “I used to scribble small stories in the beginning. But I thought of writing a book when my children told me that they were bored listening to the same stories again. They wanted something new and different.

This led me to explore more about children’s books and decided to finally author a book.”
Naveen’s novel ‘Anandapurathe Athbutha Kattadikal’ is a children’s fantasy novel of about 140 pages. He says, “Writing a children’s book is very different from writing for adults as you have to be very careful when you choose the subject itself. Children like things which are simple and what they can relate to.”
This is the author’s first book and he says the book is the first one in a series yet to be published. The author has created a fantasy world which will conquer children’s mind. The mesmerising narration captures even the attention of grownups.

The story begins with Appu, the main protagonist, and his father who goes to Anandapuram to repair a few faulty giant windmills. One night, at a beautiful park, Appu meets a young girl. The girl disappears as he approaches her. To his shock, at the place where the girl sat, Appu sees an elderly lady smiling at him. Suddenly, a group of ferocious dogs attack him.

Appu’s friend Appakkada claims the girl is a witch named Varahi Muththassi. She has the powers to change form. Appu is not ready to believe such fantasies. Appu visits an abandoned palace near the park along with his friends. Appu sees the girl again in the palace compound. But his friends are unable to see her. They meet Varahi Muththassi in the palace. In the end, Appu finds that the girl is Sreebala, the princess of Anandapuram. The minds of the people are filled with anger, hatred and animosity and that is why they were unable to see her.

Appu begins an adventurous journey through the mystical world of Anandapuram, a journey where he learns the importance of love, compassion and sacrifice. With courage and determination, he faces the adversities and finds the key to open the giant windmills. The story concludes as the mysteries are solved and the windmills start working again.

Naveen is currently working in Technopark-based Edwiza Solutions. The book was released by Shashi Tharoor MP. This techie-turned-author plans to write another book in this series in the coming years.