​I'm Aaditya Sengupta Dhar, a Mumbai-based teenage author, history buff, and the founder of Partition Perspectives.

 

My first ‘book’ was a handwritten, stapled encyclopedia of ancient civilizations I wrote when I was eight, and seeing it displayed in the school library motivated me to keep writing. I wrote my first fantasy novel, Secret Tails (2018), when I was ten. My next novel, Legend of the Broken Blade (2022), was acclaimed as one of the ‘Top 15 must-read books of 2023’ by The Morning Standard. 

 

I aspire to use my writing and storytelling skills to make a positive difference. My 2020 eBook, Underdogs, raised awareness of the importance of helping underprivileged children unleash their potential, with sales proceeds donated to Save The Children India. My 2021 book, Back from the Brink, was based on research funded by a micro-grant I won from MIT Solv[ED] and highlighted the issue of urban animal extinction and how we can make a difference through simple, everyday steps. I sharpened my understanding of the SDGs and community impact through an internship at UNICEF. My book Teen’s Guide to Saving the World (2023) inspires teens to create a positive impact in their communities and won Silver at the Non-Fiction Book Awards in the US, Silver at the Readers' Favorite Awards, and was a Top 3 Finalist at the Teen Readers' Choice Awards in the US. 

 

I combined my passion for writing, history, and mythology to write my latest novel Kaalchakra(2024), an Amazon bestseller, which aims to make modern Indian youth feel that while we live in a globalized world, we should take pride in our cultural roots and heritage. A short story on this theme won a Gold Finalist Award at the prestigious Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition in 2023, and my essay on civilizational collapse won a High Commendation at the prestigious John Locke Essay Contest.

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My passion for connecting what we can learn from our past to create a better future led me to explore the linkages between ancient Indian history and philosophy and the modern economy through my Vedanomics column on BWBusinessworld and Vedanomics Podcast on Spotify.

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I also intern as Commissioning Editor at Fair Observer, a leading US-based citizen journalism outlet, curating and creating content related to South Asian History and Politics.

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When I'm not writing, I can be found working on schoolwork, following Cricket with a passion, and practicing Karate, in which I hold a black belt. 

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For my efforts in making a positive impact through his writing, I was humbled to be conferred with the Young Achievers' Award in 2024, a national recognition for young changemakers in India, and the ECIS Student Award for Intercultural Understanding in 2025.

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The Genesis of Partition Perspectives

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My interest in the Partition comes not just as a student of history, but because the Partition is a part of my personal family history. My grandfather migrated from then East Pakistan on a train with his mother, and as an eleven-year-old, he witnessed the horrors of the Partition. Growing up hearing stories of the Partition, I was inspired to learn more about it as a student of History. My research among modern Indian teens, published as a paper in Fair Observer, showed that today's teens risk losing perspective of what led to the Partition and its lessons, and risk repeating its mistakes. I wanted not just to present the expert, analytical view of historians, but the real human stories that are the core of the Partition experience to better inform his generation about the Partition and generate critical thinking about it. Exploring this unique intersection of expert analysis and personal oral history led to the birth of Partition Perspectives.

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