It is true that a young mind is resourceful when put into use for just the right thing. Age cannot define your skills but rather provide you with an opportunity to recast those skills and polish it with experienced mastery. This time we have the true story of Mr. Kevin Missal from Gurugram, who decided not to let his young age define his success.
Mr. Kevin Missal at the age of 22 is a best-selling author and a graduate of St. Stephens. Mr. Kevin started reading and writing when he was just 12. In general, a 12-year-old kid is expected to learn the basics of H.C.F.-L.C.M. and start reading books like “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”. But that age restriction never got a hold of Mr. Missal. He started with Archie Comics followed by some classics written by Charles Dickens and then gradually he was pulled towards the undying possibilities of fiction and mysteries of Hindu mythology. Mr. Missal published his first book “Damien Black- The Battle of Lost Ages” (a Greek mythology) at the tender age of 14 which was released by Honorable Shrimati Sheila Dikshit (former Chief Minister of Delhi). Who can imagine that a kid for whom it had just been a year of hitting adolescence would explore the depths of Greek mythology in the form of a book!
At that age, barely anyone in his batch would understand in his school what Mr. Missal has written about! Nobody used to get a hang of the level of his narration at that age. Mr. Missal had a female friend who always used to stand by his side and praise him for what he had achieved at such a young age. As you know, even in the era of herd mentality you will always find a person with your perspective yet who can teach you a lot. At the age of 17, he wrote a book “Yama” and further at the age of 19 he wrote another book named “Unlocked”. His creations do not end just here but it is as beautiful and strong as a spinning wheel’s thread. The more he gained experienced and expanded his horizon, the more enriched narratives he curated.
In college, he tried his hands-on various activities like acting but soon realized that acting wasn’t his cup of tea. He always knew he was a great story-teller. So, after completing his graduation he tried direction and film-making but again all to no avail. Mr. Missal says that “he didn’t choose writing as a career but rather writing which chose him for its career!”.
At the age of 22, he wrote the first part of his “Kalki Trilogy” that is “Dharmayaddha Kalki- Avatar of Vishnu (Part 01), Satyayoddha Kalki- Eye of Brahma (Part 02) & Mahayoddha Kalki- Sword of Shiva (Part 03)”. The Kalki Trilogy was an epic success and became a national bestseller with over 1 Lakh copies being sold in the first year of the release. Further he wrote “Raavanputra Meghnad” and has initiated another trilogy “Mahaavatar Trilogy” with the first being “Narsimha” followed by “Hiranyanya Kashyap” which is the latest book out of his edition.
But irrespective of all the difficulties, he has always had the support of his family, relatives and friends. When you have the support of just the right ones, no one can stop you from venturing into the right direction. One thing that Mr. Missal has adopted as his style is that he tries not to work with the same publication. It was a strategic call from his father and agent depending upon the services offered and the opportunities rendered to him through the publishers. At present, he is in an agreement with a publication which published Part 02 of Mahaavatar Trilogy on this 15th of June.
He has always been inspired and mesmerized with movies like Star Wars and Baahubali and thus from there he got the inspiration for “Kalki Trilogy”. So, he did his research and decided to narrate the true story with his own cadence. In India, the most selling genre is the Hindu Mythology and Indian readers are fascinated with how every author unfolds the mystery behind Hindu mythology in his/her own way and that’s a major reason, the curiosity which Hindu mythology ignites that Mr. Missal loves to write on Hindu mythology.
It wasn’t easy for him being a writer. Even though he was in this field from a very young age, the field of difficulty is dynamic. Every month you come to know of a new rule and new regulation. Before every hit and before every best seller, a writer has to go through hundreds of rejections, uncountable approaches unanswered and pending follow-ups. It is comparatively easy to imagine, but to pen down those imaginations in words which reaches out to the audience and before that reaches out to the publishers is a hectic task. One of the major drawbacks that writers face is criticism due to distinguished perspectives. And since he majorly wrote about Hindu mythology and fantasy fiction, he has faced a lot of negative comments and feedbacks. But eventually he got used to it, he got used to the fact that not everyone can share his perspective and vice versa. The faith in his own self helped him to step out of this dark critic blanket.
He has an upcoming book with Penguin Publishers which is supposed to be released in January, 2021. Further, he is working on an application and a website where he will post his unpublished work and it will work like “Binge Reading” just like binge watching!
Mr. Kevin Missal is the ultimate example for all the writers out there who fear that they are not matured enough to publish their writings. It is always within, which you just need to uncover. Everyone knows about their hidden talent, but they just need to couple it with confidence. You cannot assume the result even before trying. And even if you fail, you always learn something. Learning is one thing which always add up to your asset, irrespective of the fact whether that learning is from a success or a failure!
A message from Mr. Kevin Missal himself for all the readers, “If you want to be a writer, you have to be financially minimalistic. You have to save gradually as writing is also an investment, the returns on which you receive afterwards.”
- Team Satyavachan