Registration is open from November 1, 2025 and will be open until December 20, 2025 or until spots fill up, whichever is earlier. 

On registration, you will have access to exclusive timed content that will help you prepare for the competition. This content will include prior year videos, best submissions and pro tips. The content will change weekly so the earlier you register, the more exclusive content you will have access to. 

$79 registration fee per participant

To participate in Tejas, you must be a resident in the United States of America as defined by the IRS.

You should be between 14-18 years of age.

Team size – You can participate as a 1 person team, 2 people team or 3 people team. Irrespective of the number of participants in a team, all teams will have to read the same number of books and submit the same number of challenges. 

Identify team members –  If you want to participate as a team, get the word out to friends you know who might make good teammates. In order to compete effectively, you need readers but you also need creative minds. Figure out who you want on this journey, who can be counted on to share the workload – whether it is reading books, mastering the content in the books, brainstorming ideas for events and most importantly who you enjoy working with. Good teammates will be your biggest asset in this competition. Make sure you form a well rounded team. Most of the events will need you to have a very sound understanding of the subject matter but you will also need to express yourself in the most creative ways.

The final list of 4 books that will be required reading for this competition will be announced on launch date of December 20th, 2025.

All books are thoughtfully curated to be age appropriate, non-religious, non-political and thoroughly vetted by our organizing committee. Books will be on topics such as Sciences, Architecture, Math, Medicine, Astrophysics, Music, Sculpture, Craft, Art, Language, Philosophy, History, Culture – all from Indic lens.

As with any competition, the amount of time you spend really depends on you. However, here are some guidelines to keep in mind.

Books will be under 400 pages, easy reads, requiring no more than 10 hours for average reading speed. You might want to read the books multiple times.

Expect to spend 4-5 hours producing a high quality deliverable.

Competition time – The team should expect to be booked for a few hours, mostly weekends during the competition.

Through the competition season, teammates get together, delight in exchanging narratives they’ve explored, and prepare to demonstrate their unrivalled expertise on these literary works in the upcoming challenge.

Books will be usually available on Amazon, Garuda Publication or other book stores. When we reveal the book names, we will also let you know where you can procure them.

Finalists and those participants who come to Houston will have an opportunity to collaborate with bestselling authors in a variety of ways. Based on the fit between the authors and the participants, the following type of opportunities can be offered: doing research for an upcoming book, creating abridged versions of their books, re-writing their books for a different audience group or age group, creating an illustrated book using their content.

Opportunities to intern with DCF, partner organizations, next season of Tejas, other DCF initiatives like podcasting, conferences.

Every participant will receive a certificate of participation