Tejas '25

The Indic Book Competition

Unleash Your Love for Reading & Compete to Win Big at Tejas '25

Live Info + Q&A sessions held twice a week

1. ATTEND OUR LIVE INFO SESSIONS

TWICE A WEEK on 

mon @ 9 pm est and wed @ 6:30 pm pst

meet.google.com/yjz-kkts-kyw

Tejas 25 Info session

What is Tejas?

Tejas is a unique book competition for 14-40 year-olds in the U.S., where your love for reading unlocks incredible rewards. Develop an Indic lens on life, career, and society while exploring ancient wisdom to tackle modern challenges.

Now inviting you to participate in Tejas 2025. 

Why participate?


  • Broaden your perspectives and deepen your understanding of the world
  • Huge cash awards
  • Opportunity to collaborate with bestselling authors on types on projects shown below
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 Who is Tejas for?

Cohort 1:  

14 – 18 year olds

The competition is kicked off with unveiling of books at end of Dec 2024/ early Jan 2025.

Books can be procured from Amazon or our publishing partner.

  • Spruce up your resume with a portfolio showcasing your creative expression
  • Stand out in your college applications
  • Sharpen your public communication and critical thinking skills

Cohort 2:  

19 – 29 year olds

  • Broaden your horizons with insights that go beyond Western perspectives
  • Harness timeless Indian wisdom to understand how to build and sustain relationships
  • Strengthen your roots

Cohort 3:  

30 – 40 year olds

  • Learn to apply ancient wisdom in career as done by many of our top Indian origin CEOs
  • Embrace and rediscover your Indian identity as narratives evolve
  • Reconnect with your creative self

How does the Tejas competition work?

1

Register

Register in your division:

Division 1: 14 – 18 years

Division 2: 19 – 29 years

Division 3: 30 – 40 years

Registration fee: $99 per person

2

Compete solo or in team of 2-3

Compete solo or find partners, have them register and then form a team.

Looking for teammates but can’t find any? No worries! Message us. We’ll try to find you like minded teammates. 

3

Procure books

The competition is kicked off with unveiling of books at end of Dec 2024/ early Jan 2025.

Books can be procured from Amazon or our publishing partner.

4

Read

You get 6-8 weeks to read the 4 books. Each book is no more than a 10 hour read.  

5

Author sessions

Live author sessions will be conducted, where possible, to offer participants an opportunity to interact with and ask questions to the author directly. 

6

Expert sessions

Live expert sessions will be conducted to guide participants on creating podcasts and youtube shorts, producing, or creating a meme. 

7

Challenges and prompts

Starting mid/end of Feb 2025, every 2 weeks a challenge is due. Prompts for each challenge are announced 10 days before the due date, so you have 10 days to create your content. Time required for the work is expected to be 5-7 hours. 

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Finalists announced

Finalists are announced in May 2025. 5 teams from each cohort will get to compete in Tejas 2025 finale in Atlanta in June 2025.

1

Register

Register in your division:

Division 1: 14 – 18 years

Division 2: 19 – 29 years

Division 3: 30 – 40 years

Registration fee: $99 per person

Play Video

2

Compete solo or in team of 2-3

Compete solo or find partners, have them register and then form a team.

Looking for teammates but can’t find any? No worries! Message us. We’ll try to find you like minded teammates. 

Play Video

3

Portal Access

Shortly after registration, you get access to the competition portal. All the information is shared here. All your deliverables will also be submitted here. 

The portal also has a mobile app.

Play Video

4

Procure books

The competition is kicked off with unveiling of books at end of Dec 2024/ early Jan 2025.

Books can be procured from Amazon or our publishing partner.

You get 6-8 weeks to read the 4 books. Each book is no more than a 10 hour read.  

Play Video

5

Author sessions

Live author sessions will be conducted, where possible, to offer participants an opportunity to interact with and ask questions to the author directly. 

Play Video

6

Expert sessions

Live expert sessions will be conducted to guide participants on creating podcasts and youtube shorts, producing, or creating a meme. 

Play Video

7

Challenges and prompts

Starting mid/end of Feb 2025, every 2 weeks a challenge is due. Prompts for each challenge are announced 10 days before the due date, so you have 10 days to create your content. Time required for the work is expected to be 5-7 hours. 

Play Video

8

Finalists announced

Finalists are announced in May 2025. 5 teams from each cohort will get to compete in Tejas 2025 finale in Atlanta in June 2025.

Play Video

1

Register

Register in your division:

Division 1: 14 – 18 years

Division 2: 19 – 29 years

Division 3: 30 – 40 years

Registration fee: $99 per person

2

Compete solo or in team of 2-3

Compete solo or find partners, have them register and then form a team.

Looking for teammates but can’t find any? No worries! Message us. We’ll try to find you like minded teammates. 

3

Portal Access

Shortly after registration, you get access to the competition portal. All the information is shared here. All your deliverables will also be submitted here. 

The portal also has a mobile app.

4

Procure books

The competition is kicked off with unveiling of books at end of Dec 2024/ early Jan 2025.

Books can be procured from Amazon or our publishing partner.

You get 6-8 weeks to read the 4 books. Each book is no more than a 10 hour read.  

Play Video
Play Video
Play Video
Play Video

5

Author sessions

Live author sessions will be conducted, where possible, to offer participants an opportunity to interact with and ask questions to the author directly. 

6

Expert sessions

Live expert sessions will be conducted to guide participants on creating podcasts and youtube shorts, producing, or creating a meme. 

7

Challenges and prompts

Starting mid/end of Feb 2025, every 2 weeks a challenge is due. Prompts for each challenge are announced 10 days before the due date, so you have 10 days to create your content. Time required for the work is expected to be 5-7 hours. 

8

Finalists announced

Finalists are announced in May 2025. 5 teams from each cohort will get to compete in Tejas 2025 finale in Atlanta in June 2025.

Play Video
Play Video
Play Video
Play Video

What’s the commitment and deliverables?

As with any competition, the amount of time you spend really depends on you. 

Books will be under 400 pages, easy reads, requiring no more than 10 hours for average reading speed.

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

Read 4 assigned Indic books

All books are –

  • Age appropriate
  • Enjoyable reads
  • Fiction and non-fiction
  • Non-political
  • Non-controversial
  • Non-religious
  • Under 400 pages
  • Under 10 hours of reading time
  • With valuable takeaways
  • Perspective building
  • In English language
  • Available on Amazon or though our publishing partner

 Complete 6 qualifying challenges

  • Each challenge requires 5-7 hours of work
  • Challenges are due every 2 weeks from February to April 2025
  • Top performers advance to the finals
  • Awards for individual challenge toppers

What happens after qualifiers?

Top 5 teams from each cohort will be announced as finalists in May 2025. They will proceed to the grand finale in Atlanta on the weekend of Jun 14-15, 2025. Additionally, challenge toppers will also be announced.

What happens at the Grand Finale?

 The finalists will compete in 3 more rounds – Jeopardy, Just-3-Minutes, Act It Out – for the top spot. These will take place in person in Atlanta. 

What about internships?

Along with the final rounds, there will be an internship fair where all Tejas participants, whether or not you made it to the finals, will be able to interact with authors and Indic organizations and explore internship opportunities.

Still have questions?

We’re here for you!

1. ATTEND OUR LIVE INFO SESSIONS

TWICE A WEEK on 

mon @ 9 pm est and wed @ 6:30 pm pst

meet.google.com/yjz-kkts-kyw

Tejas 25 Info session

Tejas ’24 Glimpses

Chance to chat with luminaries like Rajiv Malhotra

An extraordinarily rewarding experience for all attendees.

One-on-one with bestselling authors like Ami Ganatra

A moment to treasure for a lifetime

Mentoring by authors, film makers, visual artists, podcasters, Indic experts

Skill development along with perspective building

Tejas ’24 Reviews

Tejas ’24 Captures

Clarifying doubts directly from the author Shivprasad Mantri?
Acting It Out: Ravana and Shurpanakha
Plenary session for all to attend
"World Cafe" with authors...not enough time!
Ami Ganatra awarding Challenge Toppers
2024 TEJASWIS - Tejas winners
Group capture with author Mitra Desai
Discussing internship opportunities?
Team logo as mehendi - talk about being really invested!

"Since my daughter registered for “Tejas", we have almost read the books as a family. The books had eventually become a part of our dinner table, long walk and grandparents' phone call discussions. This process has made us explore and rediscover ourselves."

Uncover the world’s largest literature collection you’ve missed out on

Discover entirely new genres of books, opening your mind to new ideas and philosophies that never surface in mainstream media. Join Tejas to uncover a world that you would likely not on your own.

Know someone who might like to participate? Share this unique opportunity!

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Be part of something extraordinary

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Know someone who might like to participate? Share this unique opportunity!

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DONATE

Join us in celebrating Indic wisdom and making it accessible to Indian American youth. Your involvement matters. Act now to empower the next generation!

VOLUNTEER

You are someone with a can-do attitude? You take your volunteering as seriously as your day job. You’re a doer and problem solver. You’re our tribe. Join us for an energizing and fulfilling experience. 

Tejas 25 Info session