Meet Ayushi Kainthola: The Young, Talented And Gifted Writer Of YQ

Our writer Prem interviewed one of the popular writers on the YQ app — Ayushi Kainthola. Get inspired, even as Ayushi shares with us why she loves to write and what is her muse. Read on.

Q. Describe yourself in 1200 characters (250 words) — Imagine writing a tiny autobiography.
A. I have no idea from where to begin. I think I’d be the first person who would mess the things up even while telling about herself. I’ll keep it short cause I don’t know myself at all yet and it kind of scares me sometimes but then I remind myself, “It’s okay. You are on the path of self-discovery.”
I am from Rudrapur, Uttrakhand ― a simple city with simpler people. I live in phases (like everyone else). At one moment, I am the happiest person in this world and at another, full of despair. I am in twelfth and to be honest, have no idea what I’ll do after it. But one thing that I am sure of is, I’ll always make art, no matter how worse the things or time become for me. I love this nature. It inspires the artist in me.
Apart from writing, I love reading, music, and craft. I am an ambivert and love the crescent phase of me even if the world loves to see me as a full moon. I am not a morning person. There are times when I stay awake the whole night to figure things out and end up doing nothing but listening to the tick-tock of the clock and promising myself to study from the next day but fail to do so.

Q. That’s a lovely bio. You are in 12th, and are already mastering writing! I envy you! When did you get into writing?
A. I don’t have any interesting story to tell. I never recited or wrote any poem when I was in 5th or 6th. I never won any prize for any poem or essay or story that I could recall. I never wrote anything to my parents when I was a kid. I never thought I would write someday. Ever since I was a child, I wanted to be a doctor. I don’t know why. I repeated what I heard. I just wanted to be a doctor until and unless I discovered myself. As I have mentioned above, we are always on the path of self-discovery. So, as I traveled the universe inside me, I realized, I held words inside me that were waiting to be heard. I realized that I always belonged to art. All the books and stories that I read had a purpose. So, I started jotting down whatever came to my mind. I started weaving stories. I haven’t been writing poetry since long. I basically started writing poetry, snippets and musings after joining YQ.

Q. Which are your favourite reads so far?
A. Madhushala by Harivansh Rai Bachchan.
Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

I have yet to read so many books. There are so many universes to be explored.

Q. What is the most fulfilling thing about writing? How seriously do you take your writing?
A. The most fulfilling thing about writing is self-contentment. To me, writing is everything. It has never been an escape, it has always been a home. I write to figure things out and to calm the hurricane of thoughts inside my head. I write to heal myself.

Q. What advice you would want to give to the budding writers out there?
A. I would say just one thing to everyone who writes or aspires to be a writer: believe and hope. Believe in yourself and in your art. Cause if you won’t believe then who will? Never ever stop trying. No one becomes Shakespeare overnight. You don’t have to be Shakespeare. You have to be YOU. Whatever you write, write like yourself. If something appears black to someone, it doesn’t mean it would appear black to you as well. It could be white or green or blue to you. Write everyday otherwise you won’t improve. Write crap but most importantly, write. I won’t say read a lot. Reading is just like food. You can’t eat a lot at a single time. Distribute your reading-meals. But read. Read as much as you can. There are stories that this world wants to hear. There are stories that only you can tell. Never stop believing in the beauty of your words. And hope. Always hope for something better. There’s hope inside you. And there’s hope outside you. Your words bridge the gap between these two worlds.

Q. What hooks you to YourQuote?
A. Variety. The wide range of quotes. Different people. Different languages. Different genres. Also, the user-friendly environment. Everything is so simple yet so unique here.

Q. What is the secret to your words? You write too less and they speak a lot. Too much of art conveyed in too less words!
A. There’s no secret to my words. I write for myself. My chaos needs just few words to be calmed. But that words should be healing and convincing. Cause we can convince anyone in this world but convincing ourselves is an art. So, that’s what I try to do.

Q. How did you come to know about YourQuote?
A. It was a coincidence. I was looking for a writing app. So, I downloaded wattapad first but it felt like a cage. It wasn’t something I was looking for. Then once I was talking to Akshay Amrit, a fellow YQian. He asked me to try YourQuote. So that’s how I found YQ and I am really glad that I found it. Thank you Akshay. Well, some credit goes to my mind also for messing the things up on wattapad otherwise I wouldn’t have come across YourQuote.

Q. Okay, this is a curious question. Who is/are your muse when you write?

A. Nature is my muse. It has always been a companion, a mentor and a parent. And I am grateful to the art (and to be a part) of this universe. And ofcourse, love. Love puts you on the pedestal and helps you see what is behind the walls that you create around yourself. Love helps you see this world better. It gives you vision and there’s nothing more inspiring than that. (So yeah, I don’t believe that love is blind)

Q. If there is a novel based on your life, what would it be called?
A. ‘Rising from ashes’
I don’t want to stop dancing around the fire of dreams, love, sufferings, and life out of fear. Like a Phoenix, I want to rise from the ashes, no matter how many times I get burned.

Q. Who are your favourite writers on YourQuote?
A. There are so many writers I admire. I love and learn from everyone on YourQuote. Everyone has taught me something or other. There are few writers I always look forward to read : Sai Manohar, Laxya Tokas, Susantha, Rya Ray, Prasoon Vyas, Ayena Makkar Girdhar, Harsh snehanshu, Anup Kamal Agarawal, Srijit Panja, Prem Kumar Chanda, Vishal Sharma, Jhelum Anikhindi, Vishakha Kamra, Aayushi Sonkar, Bharath Nandibhatla (Pheww… I want to write everyone’s name and many many many more.

Q. How has your career/study impacted your writing style?
A. My studies have impacted my writing style a lot. You see, I don’t like to study or maybe I don’t like the way things are being taught. And study is the reason why I find solace in writing. If nothing, school has at least given me the courage ―to look what lies beyond my periphery and to look for the world I belong to ― and somewhere between school and study, I have fortunately stumbled upon my world.

Q. Where do you get your story ideas from?
A. I get my story ideas from my cupboard or from under my bed and sometimes, from the child waving at me or from the bud blooming into flower. I write what I see. I write what I feel. I don’t think much. I end up messing the things up when I think too much. So, I write.

Q. What is the most important thing for you in a story?
A. Relatability. A story doesn’t have to begin with good weather or happy things. A story doesn’t need to have a moral or happy ending everytime. A story can end mid sentence as well. But as long as it feeds your soul and is relatable to you or to the things around you. It’s perfect. It has a soul. I look for soul-connection. Cause whatever soul receives, stays with us. Forever.

Q. Which book do you wish you had written?
A. Either The God of Small Things or Madhushala.

Q. If there’s one thing that you’d want to change about your writing, what would it be?
A. I’d like to expand my horizons. I want to look at things closely. I don’t want to write about how someone survived all the time. I want to write about ‘why’ he/she survived. I want to write about places I visit, things I touch, people I meet, what makes me happy and what makes me so sad suddenly. Also, I’d like to write in Hindi.

Q. What do you think: Is appreciating art is great or creating the art?
A. Appreciating the art. Always. There’s nothing greater than appreciating what universe offers you. Imagine what this world would be like if everyone is busy creating art and no one appreciates. Everyone would be living in their own world. But this isn’t what art is about. it always connects. If you don’t appreciate art, you can’t create art. It is as simple as that. Moreover, that’s what we do in YQ as well, no ? We create art but we appreciate more. And we all know what wonders it does.

Q. What has been the greatest personal discovery for you?
A. Realization. My greatest personal discovery is realization. There are so many things we fail to realize. Mistake is one of them. I’ve learnt that life is not as easy as it appears outside the window and not as tough as it appears inside our head. And that everything (good or bad) ends. It’s between beginning and end that we exist. And only our existence can turn the end into a new beginning. Realization changes life but it’s a train that often arrives late at platform. But arrives. And takes us to our destination. So if you realize something late, just say ‘Happy late-realization to me’. Breathe and board the train.

Q. What is your favourite possession? Share a picture and add 3–4 lines.

A. Okay. I don’t possess anything as such. But I possess a golden trio : Dipreet Khurana, Kriti Bisht and Ashish Dua. They are the most wonderful people. And their existence makes me a better person.

Here are some of the best quotes by Ayushi on YourQuote:

Read more quotes by Ayushi here