The 15-Year-Old Girl Who Became A Published Author At 8 – Ishita Katyal

“Stop asking kids what they want to do when they grow up — ask what they want to do right now.” – Ishita Katyal.

Ishita Katyal, a published author at eight and is the youngest Indian speaker at the TEDx talks, is born with extraordinary skills. She has successfully challenged the typical thought- ‘kids are too small to make a difference.’

How Ishita Developed An Interest In Writing?

Ishita Katyal was born on July 26, 2005. She is a student at Vibgyor High School in Pune. When Ishita was around five years old, her parents wanted her to take up some interest to keep herself busy. At this age, it is difficult for kids to understand this. Her Mom started reading stories to her when she was just a few months old. The little girl was always attentive, but not sure if she grasped anything. Her grandmother also used to tell her a story every night before going to bed. Her words sounded so real, and she would include Ishita in them. Katyal loved all the stories as they were about children, animals, and nature.

She slowly started to ask her family to buy a few storybooks. She was amazed to know that each story would take her into a different world. She always wanted to read more and more. Each birthday gift that she got were, books only. That’s how she developed an interest in reading and then writing.

Accomplishments Made By Ishita Katyal

Katyal is a child author and TEDx speaker and is the youngest organizer of TEDx Youth events in the Asia-Pacific region. Ishita organized the first TEDx event in her school on February 7 2015. She delivered a talk, “What do you want to be now,” at the TED Youth Conference in New York in November 2015. She was 10-years-old at that time and was the youngest Indian to speak at the conference.

Katyal believes that success comes when we want happiness in the present moment. She shares this message during weekly workshops that she leads at a local school. The child prodigy loves to read and write in her spare time. When she was only 8-years-old, she wrote a book called Simran’s Diary that is now available on Amazon. She is a good reader, and her favourite authors are Enid Blyton and Ruskin Bond. The child prodigy Ishita also loves to play basketball.

Winner of Global Child Prodigy Awards 2020

The Global Child Prodigy Awards is the first and only organization to recognize the talents from various countries and backgrounds, having extreme competency in their field of interest such as painting, modeling, writing, entrepreneurship, martial art, music, social work, etc. 

Ishita Katyal received the Global Child Prodigy award in January 2020 for her writing and speaking skills. Her name was also among the top 100 prodigies of the year. She feels so glad to win this award as it is one of her most significant achievements. If you know someone close to you who deserves to be on the top 100 Child Prodigies list, make sure to click here.