The world may know Yashvi Lodha as the daughter of Abhinandhan and Sheetal Lodha. However, in her own words, she is a "student, social volunteer, writer, poet and a teenager with a voiced opinion".
The young author's book of poems The Teenage Chronicles was recently unveiled at Crossword Book Store at Kemp's Corner with her family and well-wishers in full attendance. Brimming with pride were Yashvi's parents Abhinandhan and Sheetal Lodha who wouldn't contain their excitement and joy as their young daughter stepped on stage to read poems from the book. Her grandmother, Manju Lodha introduced Yashvi's latest book to the eager audience, who cheered her on.
Yashvi's favourite poem from the book is a letter to herself. "If I could talk to myself as a child, what would I say?" she wrote. "That we weather through 100 per cent of our hardest days. But would she recognise me through all these masks? Feel the unsaid weight of all these tasks?"
These words may seem quite profound for a teenager her age, but for her parents, who have watched Yashvi straddle with fiction, reading Hardy Boys and Dr Seuss, it felt like their daughter had suddenly grown up. Papa Abhinandhan joyfully exclaimed, "I feel it is the emotions inside of Yashvi which are getting translated into words."
According to her mom Sheetal, Yashvi always read fiction as a child. "Yashvi has always been a voracious reader. She started writing when she was three. Whenever we'd go on trips, Yashvi would have a Kindle with her, and she would pack a bag with 8-10 books. She has been a curious mind, always wanting to know more and I think, that's what made her dive into writing as well. She is a big, critical thinker."
Sheetal adds, "Yashvi became a teenager during COVID and turned to writing, to pen down her emotions and feelings. That's how the book took shape. It also explains why she got more into the mental health space."
According to dad Abhinandhan, Yashvi was very sensitive as a child, and that "allowed her to go through a range of emotions which not everyone can feel".
"Our house had the environment, especially with my mom, where speaking and reading poetry was quite encouraged. Yashvi is very special that way because she took the best around her and it now comes out in the way she emotes and communicates," he shares. "It is the emotions inside of her which are getting translated into words."
Among the two, Abhinandhan would insist that he is the more well-read, while his wife is the one who is more into books. Yashvi has the best of both her parents. In her father's words, "she is her own person and will speak her mind."
"The Teenage Chronicles Book 2 is a book which I started writing when I was going from Grade 10 to Grade 11," explains Yashvi. "It is essentially about dealing with a lot of uncertainties. Because we live in very uncertain times. It is about trying to find your way while constantly being told, you are behind and lacking, and to find the strength to stick to your conviction."
"I have always loved poetry," she adds. "My main message to my readers is that you need to be your authentic self. Always be 100 per cent yourself." Yashvi likes reading a lot of autobiographies and presently, she is reading letters between Vincent van Gogh and his brothers. "That's my current favourite," she quips.
Also present at the book launch was actress Rakul Preet Singh, who has read parts of I have read parts of The Teenage Chronicles. "The kind of poems she read out today, speaks about the gravity of her soul. She is an old soul for sure to understand the meaning of life at such a young age."
Husband Jackky Bhagnani adds, "I am so mesmerized with her choice of words. At this age, to have this kind of wisdom, that nothing more than happiness is what matters, says a lot about her and her upbringing."
