Author Asha Biroo-Sankar invites people to discover Trinidad and Tobago through word search

JULIEN NEAVES

When first-time author and entrepreneur Asha Biroo-Sankar gets an idea in her head, she just dives into it. And she is hoping that tourists and locals alike will get a chance to "dive into" her new puzzle book The Tourist Guide: Trinidad and Tobago Word Search.

Biroo-Sankar chatted about the book with Newsday during an interview last week.

As a child growing up in Tacarigua, she had an early love for puzzles and word searches, a passion her mother also shared. This love was fuelled by her father. who bought activity books for her and her siblings to "learn something." She recalled competing with her sister to find all the words in a word search first.

Her affinity for word searches continued into adulthood and inspired her to create her own book. She decided to use TT as a topic because of a lack of similar books in local bookstores.

After having the idea bouncing around in her head for "quite some time," she started actively working on it in 2021, during the covid19 pandemic.

"I had a vision in my head and I would work on it manually."

The idea moved further when she learned that a previous co-worker had published a book. She asked where it had been published and was directed to Empress Royále Publishing in New York. She met with a representative of the company in late 2021 and pitched her idea.

"It is a word search, but it would be done differently. We would give people information related to the puzzles."

Empress Royále Publishing agreed to publish the book and helped Biroo-Sankar compile the puzzles. Work on the book stalled, however, when she contracted covid19 at the beginning of 2022. She also learned that she was pregnant.

"I needed to get up and going (with the book) before the baby comes."

Working as a purchasing officer for a bottling company during the day, she pushed to do research for the book in the night, between 10 pm and 1 am. She said this was not a problem, as she was a "night person" who is very energetic during this period, and only needs four hours of sleep.

She explained that for each puzzle she would gather as much information as possible, put it together and then forward it to the publisher, who would then pull out key points related to TT. After reviewing a couple of drafts from the publisher she added three more puzzles to better cover the topics of TT.

The book covers quite a vast range of topics, including food, street food, south Trinidad, colloquialisms, the history of petroleum, the east coast, the Queen's Park Savannah, the Magnificent Seven, birds, local names for insects, endangered species, beaches, "down the islands," waterfalls, diving sites, festivities, folklore characters, parang, culture, government, current and former leaders, prominent athletes and Olympic medallists, horse racing, a little on Caricom, a lot on Tobago, and Carnival, including popular bands and how to choose sizes.

"It is targeted for tourism: where to go, what to do, what not to do."

Mixed in with the larger puzzles are smaller ones called "crack codes." The targeted age group is from eight to a retiree.

The manuscript was completed at the end of May and the publisher submitted it to multinational e-commerce company Amazon. She said it normally takes "a little while" for Amazon to approve books, but the approval was received in about a week. The Tourist Guide was launched on Amazon on June 20.

"I was very, very excited. I did not think I would be able to go on Amazon and shop for my book."

Biroo-Sankar had held the book close to her chest before it was launched and only told her husband and parents about it. Afterwards, her other relatives and friends were surprised how large the book was and how she was had found the time to do it.

"How you have so much time with a baby and doing this and that?" she recalled them asking.

Biroo-Sankar is a woman of many hats. Apart from her day job, she is an amateur photographer (the photos on the book cover are hers) and as an entrepreneur has two businesses. The first is Kitchen Love, which she started with her husband, a part-time farmer, during covid19 and entails delivering vegetable, fruit and seasoning packages to customers' homes. She also has a small-scale seasonal business selling home-made soaps.

How is she able to accomplish so much?

"I manage time properly and that is one of my biggest assets."

She added that when she has an idea she just "dives into it."

"That is me. I have an idea in my head, and I just go."

Sometimes she has "a million things" in her head and it is difficult to get her mind to go to sleep.

Returning to the Tourist Guide, she said she planned to get it into bookstores and hopefully into schools as well.

"It could be an extra activity book on the booklist."

She expressed hope that parents would also buy the book for children to use.

"Kids are so into tablets and games. For 15 minutes you can get their minds in a different way (with the book). Help bring balance."

She added a lot of children do not know the information about the country contained in the book.

As the book's title suggests, another major target demographic is tourists.

"Even if they are not planning on coming, they can read the book and get a feel of the culture and want to buy a ticket and come and experience it – the food, the nightlife, come and enjoy it. And not think of TT as a hub for crime. There is so much more we do here."

She also expressed hope that locals reading the book could learn more about their country, such as hiking sites.

"I hike, and there are places that locals don't know. They could see something in the book and say, 'I can do it this weekend.' It's not only for tourists, but locals as well. They can get excited about Trinidad and its culture."

Asked if she had plans for a sequel, Biroo-Sankar said she did not, as it is "the ultimate book," with all the information necessary. She said any follow-up would have to be about another Caribbean island and its culture.

The Tourist Guide: Trinidad and Tobago Word Search is available through Amazon.