Bizarre as it may sound, an 11-year-old girl, the child of millionaire parents in Australia with Indian origin, has garnered international fame overnight. Ashleen Khela’s passion to pen a book at this tender age, creating her own finances to get her work titled “17 Stories” published, has catapulted her to prominence.
As Ashleen attains the title of the youngest author in her adopted country, Australia, her parents — Jasmeen Kaur and Amarjit Singh — take great pride in highlighting every facet of their Indian heritage, rooted in Punjab’s Hoshiarpur.
At the age of nine, Ashleen began shaping her dreams, and by the time she turned 11, she had successfully realised them. Over the past two years, she raised funds by collecting plastic and glass bottles, diligently taking them to recycling stations.
Ashleen’s parents told The Pioneer that she opened up her piggy bank, as well as planted and sold some yaccas, mangoes, guava and jacaranda plants online at her Sydney home. In her two years sojourn she did not take a single cent from her parents.
“I feel like being in heaven with the kind of responses I have been receiving in my country and from abroad. I feel even prouder when people recognise me now, similar to the popularity of my parents here,” Ashleen told The Pioneer over the phone from Sydney.
She has “officially” created history by becoming the nation’s first ever youngest girl to author a fiction story book. “And she happens to be none other but a proud Indian,” said Amarjit over the phone. The Sydney- based Hills Shire Council Mayor Dr Doctor Peter Gangemi has invited Ashleen next month to acknowledge her achievement for being the youngest published author. The fiction storybook for kids was published over the weekend, and the best part is that the cover of the book, as well as all the pictures, has been designed, drawn, and created by Ashleen herself.
She said the proceeds of the book will be donated towards Cancer Council of Australia, children starlight foundation and underprivileged kids in developing nations. “In future I plan to establish my own charity to assist the underprivileged kids in developing nations though my wish is to become a doctor. Nonetheless writing will ever remain my hobby,” she said.
As part of the publicity for the book, Ashleen is in the process of getting her website up and running by the end of this week to let more people know about her book, writings, and cause.
Her wish is to write at least one book each year throughout her high school journey to keep raising funds for charities, said Jasmeen.
The family visits India each year to stay connected with their Indian roots. Upon arriving, they donate stationery items, laptops, toys, sports equipment, uniforms, and warm clothes to many underprivileged kids in villages of Punjab.
In terms of the book’s content, it features 17 different stories, some of which include moral write-ups for kids. Ashleen takes her readers on an exciting journey, ranging from her Hills District Sydney backyard during the Covid pandemic to the fantasy land of caves, mountains, bushes, and the plains of rural India.
In one of the chapters she blends her real life pandemic lockdown experiences with her creative imagination. The story also sheds light on how an Australian school kid felt being at home during lockdown.
In this story, Elisa and Josephine, she blends her real-life trip to India with her imagination to create a classic, high-quality mix, concluding with a great moral for kids.
While the joint family concept has almost disappeared in India, Ashleen 11 members of three generations live under one roof at their Sydney home.
