My chance meeting with Eka Belicia was very recent. For over 50 years, I have pursued excellence in large organisations by augmenting the competence and alignment of different functionaries. Having helped such organisations in several countries like the USA, the UK, China, Singapore and Sweden, to name a few, I could immediately see that Eka is good with communications such as word pictures and inculcating curiosity in children. My tenure on the selection board for Hubert H Humphrey Scholarship, including top-level management positions, gave me a trained eye to recognise talent. With Eka, the hidden talent rearing to be unleashed struck me immediately.

The children’s book, The Gang of Six Plus One, begins in the picturesque Dibang Valley in Arunachal Pradesh. Written articulately by Eka Belicia, the book stimulates young minds to seek out information. I firmly believe exploratory learning is far superior to receptive learning, which Eka invokes wonderfully well with the verbal fluency in which the book is written. The rich story delivers a wealth of factual information. This book is a must-read for all young children and their parents.

Dr Om P Kaul