you don’t miss out on important facts while learning about the distant planets.
Ronav started
writing with the innocent intention to teach his four-year-old sister Ariana
about space. A partner in Ronav’s adventure, he didn’t want his sister to miss
out on the learning experience and created a well illustrated book for a wider
audience, hoping to inspire more children to take up reading. The journey with
Jummy, the space explorer, and his spaceship,
JET-O, is quite fascinating and children can’t put down the book once they
start reading.
“Ariana is my
partner in everything I do. She is hilarious and we have a lot of fun playing.
She is like my little Santa, who knows when I have been good and bad. I started
writing this book during the pandemic, when my sister and I were mostly at
home. We would lie on the terrace and gaze at the star studded sky. We didn’t
have a telescope but we did have binoculars through which we could make out the
craters on the picture perfect Moon and spot the brightest star, Venus. I read
out the books on space which we had at home but these were overwhelming for
Ariana, so I started writing this book to make her understand. We would enact
this science fiction and imagine that we would zip up our spacesuit and jet off
in our spaceship, JET-O. As I wrote, Ariana learnt a little more,” explains
Ronav Chodankar, a Class 3 student of Sharada Mandir School, Miramar.
Ronav worked on the
book for over a year and referred to a few books on space and the internet. He
has always been encouraged by his parents and his teachers.
“It is a difficult topic but Ronav has simplified it to a point where a four
year old could understand and love science. The pandemic was time well spent as
he had more free time to pursue his other hobbies. Once he completed writing,
we wanted an illustrator as visuals are very important for children’s books.
Jhanvi Sanghavi did a great job,” says Dr Rohit Chodankar, a noted
Orthopaedician.
Speaking about his
experience working with Jhanvi, Ronav says, “I had the scenes and characters
doodled on my book when I was writing the book. Jhanvi brought these to life by
creating the beautiful illustrations. We discussed the scenes and characters
and she would create such beautiful illustrations out of my sketches and
thoughts. I would like to thank her for having so much patience with me and
allowing me to change the look of the illustrations so many times and teaching
me so much along the way.”
Ronav was awarded a
place in the India Book of Records, for being the youngest to write a book on
the Solar System, on June 28. It was recently announced that he will be awarded
the Ukiyoto Literary Award 2022 in the Young Adult Author of the year and will
be felicitated on August 21 at Hyderabad. “I am very excited about the award. I
think my parents loved the medal and the certificate that I received from India
Book of Records but I loved the badge they gave me, which looks really cool,”
says Ronav.
Dr Rohit gives
credit to his wife, Dr Deepa, who heads Genisis Unit, Sanofi, for inculcating
the reading habit in the children. Ronav adds, “My parents encouraged both of
us to explore. My father is a science enthusiast and he conducts simple
experiments at home to show us the wonders of science. My mother read to us to
make us understand these experiments. We would read with our mother and also
enact some of the stories. This was how I started to read initially. I would
like to thank my parents for teaching me to find happiness in little things.
Ariana, thanks for filling up my pockets with happiness, adventure and fun.”
When not buried in
books, Ronav loves swimming, playing chess and coding on his laptop. He has
already started working on his next book but wants to keep it all under wraps
until it’s ready for release. His message for his young readers is, “Read a
lot. The more you read, the more you will want to explore. And the more you
explore, the more you will want to read.”
Published by Notion
Press, the book is available online on Amazon and at Broadway, Panjim and at the
Central Library, Panjim.