By a Teen, For The Teen : 18 YO Authors Second Self Help Book

An author, an entrepreneur, and a budding investor at all of 18, Loukikk Chhatbar from Mumbai is also a student at NM College of Commerce and Economics. He recently published his second book ‘Growing beyond the syllabus’ on April 14 this year.

He started journaling his thoughts in a small journal, which his father had gifted saying, “This is a very expensive diary, use it wisely.” Loukikk then poured in the so-called wisdom of a 13-year-old. While this teenage author now is striving to demystify the idea of teenagers being talked around by wise old men, it helped that his father saw the potential in what he wrote as a 13-year-old and the spark of converting it into a book.

Loukikk claims to be one of the youngest self-help authors in India, he published his first book - EAOL.- at the age of 14, with an aim to reach out and spread awareness about the complex aspects of teen life in a simplified way.

Apart from being an author his core interests also lie in Finance and Investing. He scored a 95% in his class 12 this year and now has a life of writing and building a career as a commerce student to balance.

While most teenagers his age have a hard time dealing with adolescent issues, Loukikk decided to address it and help his fellow teenage friends. He researched ways of approaching life from the psychological and rational point of view as a teenager for teenagers. He aimed at making it a discussion more than an order.

A 13-year-old in his feedback said “ Being a recent and new teen, I am being exposed to problems like anxiety, depression and stress. I got your book yesterday and immediately started reading it. Although I have not finished it, the amount I have read has shown me a completely new outlook on life. I hope you continue to inspire many more teens like me.”

As a very bright student and a teenager after all he was asked how did he balance academics, sports, writing, and other teenage fun, Loukikk said “Sacrificing fun, working long hours along with studies and even being a topper were all part of the process of becoming who I am today. But all was accepted with good faith and a smile because I was in love with the journey rather than the destination. Always going ahead with the motto of Hustle now, Rest later. Which has 2 meanings of " leisure, relaxing, and rest for the other things.”

As a teenage author, Loukikk’s bigger challenge was to be accepted as a self help author than writing well and meaningfully. He decided to face it by waking up early before school while using rhyming words, alliterations, patterns in chapters, a simple way to make the book more interesting, he said.

Although his first book was not a big success as it was launched during the lockdown, it was a humbling experience at best. He took it in stride and worked on a similar ideology of a book for teens by a teen and started writing ‘Growing beyond the syllabus’. Life came full circle when a wise old man Cyrus Gonda, a bestselling author himself, offered to launch his book.

Among other feedback, Geetha Menon, Vice principal of Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics said, “Growing beyond the syllabus is a perfect guide for teenagers for the development of their life skills beyond academics.”

Loukikk today is working on his third book and an audiobook to be published soon. His books EAOL and Growing beyond the syllabus are also currently available on Kindle.

Published on: Thursday, June 15, 2023, 12:00 AM IST