The flying boy is my first published book. For this reason, it holds a special place in my heart. Here is a brief story of how this book came about.
One fine day I was making up a story as it came in my mind. I wrote down each sentence as it came in my mind. The flying boy’s story came to existence in 15 minutes.
The original story was very different from the published one. Here is a version of the original tale.
There lived a curious boy in a city in India. He spent his summers at his grandparent’s place, where he would curiously explore the forests and other things. This boy had a special talent. He could fly!
As time went by, the boy grew up. He wanted to see more of the world. So he left India and flew to a land far west. He went to a university and learnt many things. He made many friends, and had a great time.
Now, I told you that the man could fly. But what I didn’t say was that the man could only fly when he was curious. When he was going about his regular tasks, his wings would go to sleep. They only came out when he was curiously exploring his surroundings.
As time went by, he started working, and had a family. Slowly, his job and life took over, and his curiosity ebbed. As a result, his wings stopped appearing. He wanted them to reappear, but whenever his curiosity awakened, his mind would go back to one of the million different tasks that he had to do, and his wings would go back to sleep.
One day, he drove to a new neighborhood. Tired, disheartened, he remembered his wings. But try as he might, his wings refused to appear. He decided to go for a walk. As he walked, he reached the edge of a forest. There he noticed a bird that he had never seen before. He tried to get closer to take a better look. The bird flew over to the next tree. He walked over to the next tree. The bird flew over to the next tree. The man started running behind the bird as she moved from tree to tree. Finally, the bird had enough of this little game. She took one last look at the man and flew away.
“Wait,” yelled the man, running behind her. But the bird was far above the trees. He could no longer see her. Just as he was about to give up, his wings opened and he soared in the sky.
The bird turned back and stared at the man who dared to fly like her. Together they went for a long flight. They saw the mountains in the afternoon sun. They saw deer drinking water by the woods. They also saw little children curiously exploring the forests by their house, flying just a little!
At last the man was tired. He was also lost. The bird understood that he needed her help to reach home. She urged him to follow her. He did. Soon they were flying over a neighborhood. There were people walking on sidewalk. The man worried if they would see him. But since curiosity was long dead amongst adults, they just stared at his phone, and no one saw him.
Finally the bird landed on a tree. The man also landed right by her. They looked at each other. The bird flew over to the man and sat on his shoulder. She dropped something that she had in her beak. Then she flew away. The man wanted to follow her, but his wings were too tired and would not open. He watched her fly away. Then he looked down at the ground. The bird had left a feather from her wings as a present for him.
The man carefully picked up the feather and put it in his pocket. He then looked around. He saw his car parked nearby. He got in to drive home, knowing that he could always come back as long as he made time for his curiosity.