Stars of our Storybooks – Meet Anudeep Kandula

Our Storybooks are based on lived experiences of Neurodivergent individuals and through this series of interviews, we would like to introduce them to our readers. We are starting off with – Anudeep Kandula, his experiences are shared in our books – Sid & his friends and Sid’s Magical maps.

Q) Please introduce yourself to our readers.

Ans. I am Anudeep, a 24 year old non-speaking autistic who communicates by typing. I am a poet, I like to introduce myself as a philosophic observer of life and its myriad manifestations. We are a homeschooling family and that is the biggest blessing in my life, to be able to learn so many new topics at my own pace, without prejudice, that is unfortunately inevitable when someone sees a non-speaking autistic. I was one of the co-authors of Talking Fingers vol 1 book and a budding graphic designer. I design Talking Fingers magazine. I am the creative director of Anupam Prayaas Foundation and I have illustrated the storybooks and also created the animated stories.

Q) Please share your hobbies and interests.

Ans. I love music and spend most of my free time listening to music. I like writing poems that reflect the journey of soul sometimes the happenings in the world disturb me and poetry is my way of expressing my innermost thoughts. Poetry and music are the language of the soul.

I like listening to audiobooks, mostly non fiction and a few fiction books like – Forty rules of love by Elif Shafak. I like creating and that’s why, graphic designing, illustrations and animation are fascinating for me. There is a bliss in picturizing something in my mind and making it a reality.

Q)Please share a few words about the books that feature you and the incidents related in them.

Ans. Sid & his friends book narrates my lived experience from when I was seven years old and attended a mainstream inclusive Montessori school. I love birds and we had a quiz and everyone was so surprised when I answered the questions as they believed that a boy who rocks and plays by twirling his fingers in front of his face, knows so much about birds.

Sid’s magical maps narrates my lived experience from when I was 11 years old and attended a mainstream school, it was not inclusive per se, I was the only autistic individual there. Mind maps are an important aspect of my learning.

Q) How did it feel to see your lived experiences in an illustrated book?

Ans. It was a happy moment to see them in illustrated books but what makes me happier is that these books will reach young children and hopefully, through these books, they will learn about neurodiversity and inclusion and most importantly – how we think and communicate differently but we all yearn for the same things – love, friendship, acceptance and respect.

Q) Please share your thoughts on inclusion and how we can work towards a better tomorrow.

Ans. I will respond to this question with my poem – Infinite Hues

The universe is a patchwork quilt,
Of infinite hues,
We are all threads in that quilt,
Each unique and beautiful but fragile,
Blended together in a universal bond, 
We are stronger,
There is no you & me,
We are one,
All humanity is one,
No one is disabled,
We are all part of the human spectrum, 
Blended together by a master weaver,
Who in his infinite wisdom, 
Deemed us all as equals,
Let's forget the prejudices, 
Let's walk together,
Hand in hand supporting each other,
Let's build a better tomorrow!

These are the animated stories based on Sid’s series in our storybooks kit: