‘I wrote my book to destress during my boards’

Board examinations— a time when most students are too stressed to focus on anything else but their textbooks and notes. However, 18-year-old Karina Arora used this time to channel her creativity into her debut novel. Her book, The Spirit of the River, which was recently launched in the Capital, deals with depression, loss and the road to a joyous and spirited life through the eyes of the protagonist Zoe. What’s even more interesting is that the Delhi girl has dealt with mature themes, with finesse.

How did she do that? She says, “I am influenced by whatever happens around me, the people, their emotions and more. Depression is a word commonly thrown about in our daily lives but in the bigger picture, it is a silent war that many fight, without any support. It needs to be expressed, to be shared and to be heard. That’s why I chose the themes of loss, second chances, broken hearts, missed opportunities, and coloured pasts for the book.”

Arora says she had been toying with the idea, after she visited Banjar Valley in Himachal Pradesh. “The valley’s calm and positive vibes inspired me to use that as a base for my story. It was during my boards that I decided to start working on the book as a way to de-stress; I started putting parts of the book together since it wasn’t a straight narrative and was a collection of interwoven stories.” The young author is influenced by Jhumpa Lahiri and Sophie Kinsella.