Today young children are just not interested in excelling in academics. Pursuing their passion and dream gets them going — be it to become entrepreneurs or authors. SHALINI SAKSENA chats up a few such children who talk about their novels

Artistically inclined

Ishanvi Jain

11 years old

Author of: Throne of the Sea

You expect 11-year-olds enjoying with friends and doing kid stuff. What you don’t expect is that they will have a day cramped with school classes and then Art of Communication course that teaches with how to perfect their English grammar. Not only this, the classes at Camp K-12 also teach the kids how to write — write novels.

One such student is Ishanvi Jain, an 11-year-old studying in Delhi Public School, Durgapur. She is in Class VI and loves reading books, listening to music, doodling and travelling.

Her novel, The Throne of the Sea that is available on Amazon and Kindle is about underwater creatures and the story is how true love finds its way and true friends help each other in every phase of life through thick and thin.

“When I was planning on what to write my six-year-old sister told me that I should write on her favourite topic, the mermaids and the underwater world. She is so fascinated by both. So I gave this theme a shot and the novel was born, Jain says.

It was during one of the daily booster sessions, her mentor talked about English. “The way she explained things and the way she taught was very fascinating. She explained how to write as well. All this was very inspiring. So I decided to take the class full-time. Once we had taken a certain number of classes, we were invited to write a story. I was one of the lucky ones to be chosen. And here I am today, an author,” Jain tells you.

Her friends who have read her book are inspired and want to join the class and become writers. Her favourite subjects are English and history. “I love to read and know about facts. History is all about facts, about people and how they lived back then. It is fascinating to read that despite not being very educated they were able to achieve so much,” Jain says.

She tells you that she loves to read novels that have fantasy as a theme. She loves Sudha Murthy novels. She was introduced to these by her mentor. How I taught my Grandmother to Read is her favourite.

“I love the way she writes. Also, her life inspires me. She had lived a very humble life. I am told that she is a very down to earth person. Of course, there are other authors I read as well; Ruskin Bond is one of them. My tutor also tells me what books I should read to increase my vocabulary. She tells me that these will help me improve my language skills. She also tells me that reading more and more books will give me an insight about how authors take a subject and weave their stories. This helps me to have a perspective as well,” Jain says.

It has been over a year since she joined these classes and plans to continue to take them since she loves the classes. Also the personal attention that she and other kids get, keeps her going. There are many changes that she has seen in her writing since she started.

“To begin with I didn’t know how to be descriptive. Now, I can. I have learnt how to be a better writer. I have a better grasp of the language. This helps me to weave the stories,” Jain explains who also loves listening to music.

“I love all kinds of music. I also listen to Tamil and Telugu songs as well. I do have a few favourite English songs like Yummy by Justin Bieber and Jalebi Baby by Tesher,” Jain says.

She also does a lot of mindless doodling. Once again she took a class for this and even made a Unicorn using mandala art. “It was my mother who introduced me to this art form and I love it,” Jain says.

Fantasy world beckons her

Nevaeha Palkar

10 years old

Author of: Adventure on the Other Side

She was born in the US. When she was three years old, her parents decided to come back to India and settle in Pune. A Class V student of PICT Model School, Pune, this 10-year-old decided to join the Art of Communication course with Camp K-12 because she loves English. Meet Nevaeha Palkar.

She tells you that a few months back, her mother came across an ad in the newspaper. There was an announcement for a competition in English. Palkar enrolled and she ranked No 3. It was a competition that tested us on grammar and vocabulary. It was after I participated in this competitive exam that we came to know about Camp K-12. It was my mother’s decision to enroll me for these classes since she knows that I love English,” Palkar says.

While she loves reading books and novels, she doesn’t have a single book that is her favourite. However, she tells you that she does have a favourite author, Sudha Murthy who has written many kids novels.

“I absolutely love her novels; they are truly amazing. I love the way she writes. I read her first book when I was much younger. I don’t really remember how old I was. But my mother gave it to me and I instantly fell in love with them. I also love to read Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl books as well,” Palkar says.

She tells you that her debut novel, Adventures of the Other Side, is about three friends who embark on a journey that takes them on the other side of the world and now they have to figure a way out to get back home.

“I love to read adventure, fantasy and mythological stories. My passion to write has also encouraged me to write poems as well. These however have not been published but my mother shares these on her Facebook page. So when I had to submit a story for the Art of Communication course, I decided to write it on this topic. Once I submitted it, the mentors really loved it and that’s when I developed it into a novel,” Palkar says.

It was the workshop that helped her shape her novel. “In the workshop we are taught how to write and how to develop a story. I loved the course and decided to continue to take the classes. For now, I have not written anything else. But I plan to write another novel or write a sequel to my debut novel,” Palkar says whose novel is available on Amazon and KIndle.

But this is not all. Palkar is a girl of many talents. When she was six, she found that a kids clothing company was looking for kid models around her age. I decided to participate. I had so much fun doing it,” Palkar tells you. She is also into singing, and is learning western vocals.

She is also an animal lover, especially cats. While her parents have not allowed her to keep one as a pet, she hopes that she will be allowed to keep one in the near future. She tells you that while she is an author at heart, she wants to pursue medicine when she grows up. However, she will not give up her passion for writing and will continue to write. “I don’t know what I will write about in the future. Maybe it will be a book about medicine or it can be on mythology. It is difficult to say what I will do in the future,” Palkar says. Her friends have loved her novel which has 84 pages.

“My parents have encouraged me all through my journey,” Palkar says.

‘I want to base all my stories on animals’

Parvathy Ramnarayan

11 years old

Author of: The Great Escapade of Vegla The Polar Bear

This student of Class VI is not your average school-goer. From horse riding to playing basketball to drawing to even writing a novel is what keeps her occupied. Though her day calendar is filled with extracurricular activities and competitions, she does manage to take time out for her pet — a mongrel, Brownie, that she has adopted. If this was not enough on her plate, this 11-year-old has also joined writing classes at Camp K-12 and loves participating in the spelling bee and other competitions organised by them.

This student of Kendriya Vidyalaya from Kanhangad, Kerala tells you that she loves to read and write. She tells you that taking online classes has been a tad difficult because she is unable to meet her friends. “I miss meeting them and seeing them online and talking with them is not the same. Also, where I stay, sometimes there are Internet problems. There are many interruptions,” she laments.

Looking at her interest in reading and writing, her mother told her about a workshop where she could enroll. “The best part of this class is that they teach us something new every time. This keeps me interested. Also the teacher  ensures that the one-hour session is never boring. I have been taking these classes for the last four months and I plan to keep taking them. Even though my day is full since I enjoy these classes it is never a chore to attend them,” Ramnarayan says.

Her novel, The Great Escapades of Vegla The Polar Bear, is about a female polar bear who decides to explore the world. “She is bored of her pristine white world and wants to add colour to her life and to roam the world that see what it has to offer. She is not aware of the dangers that the outside world poses. All her friends try to dissuade her from embarking on this journey but Vegla is determined. She doesn’t listen to them and goes on this journey,” Ramnarayan says. Her novel is available on Amazon and Kindle.

She decided to write a story on polar bears after extensive research on these wonderful animals that live in the ice cold regions of the world. “I read so much about polar bears. There was so much information on them. When I looked at their pictures, I found that they were cute looking, especially the cubs. Also, not many people know about their world. Not many people have explored their world. These animals shun human presence. This was another reason why I chose to make Vegla the hero of my novel,” Ramnarayan tells you.

Interestingly, nobody told her to choose this subject. She decided on her own.

“My teacher taught me about speeches and how to improve my vocabulary. I was taught so many things that I didn’t know about,” Ramnarayan says.

This also includes horse riding. At that time the family lived near a horse riding academy. Her father encouraged her to take the classes. “It was fun,” she tells you.

For now, she is in the process of deciding what to write next. One thing she is sure of is that it will be related to animals only. She plans to continue with the classes since her dream is to be a writer. Not only this, she wants to pursue archaeology. “I love history and to know all about our past. There are so many things about it that we don’t know and I would love to explore it,” Ramnarayan says.