When most children of his age are preoccupied with cartoons, chocolates and ice creams, Antahkarana, a class 5 student at Sacred Heart School in the city, is busy writing insightful articles in Kannada on the mysterious carrom ball that Ravichandran Ashwin and Ajantha Mendis bowl to flummox batsmen.
He even writes on the infamous reverse sweep attempted by England’s Mike Gatting in the 1987 World Cup final and the ‘Ball of the Century’ by Australia’s Shane Warne at Old Trafford, Manchester, in his debut Ashes Test in 1993.
This prodigy, who is just 11-years-old, already has five books to his credit: two collections of columns titled Games Period and Minchina Belaku written for a local Kannada daily and an news portal respectively; a poetry collection, Ammana Sittu ; a short story collection, Meravanige , and a novella, Ramapurada Geleyaru .
His father, Sarjashankar Haralimath, a Kannada writer, told The Hindu that at the age of six, Antahkarana was introduced to the fable Panchatantra and the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata , and children’s stories.
Antahkarana used to narrate stories about his day such as his interaction with his friends, the school picnic, painting competition and so on.
“He developed the knack of generating interest in these everyday incidents by spicing up his narration with elements of fantasy and by using metaphors,” Mr. Haralimath said.
K. Poornima, a medical writer, who is his maternal aunt, also helped him hone his writing skills.
The poems and short stories penned by him were published in the children’s supplements of leading Kannada newspapers.
Antahkarana, who has a deep passion for cricket, developed the habit of writing down cricket match scores in his notebook when he was in class 3.
He has contributed match reviews to a local Kannada daily.
He also contributes a column on cricket for Vishwakannadiga , an news portal.
Perhaps, Antahkarana’s interest in the carrom ball may soon feature spinner K.C. Cariappa, who has been picked up by Kolkata Knight Riders for the IPL.
Antahkarana, who has a deep passion for the sport, contributes a column on cricket for a news portal
