Baishali Mukherjee (Kolkata)

Astrophile class V student of Kolkata’s Indus Valley World School, Reyansh Das (10) is the latest to join the country’s distinguished league of young authors of the pandemic era. On June 8, this precocious pre-teen launched his debut e-book Our Universe: The Past, The Present, The Future on Kindle (Rs.100).

Comprising ten chapters and 116 pages, Our Universe explains the young author’s understanding of science and astrophysics including Big Bang theory, time dilation, multiverse theories, Albert Einstein, the future of the universe, life cycle of stars, the solar system, stellar remnants, the curvature, dark matter, dark energy and composition of our universe. All this without any formal education or guidance on the subject of astrophysics.

“While randomly browsing videos on YouTube, I chanced upon one related to outer space and galaxy and was fascinated by this unexplored universe,” says the aspiring outer space explorer. The only child of single mother Sohini Routh, a social worker with a reputed NGO, Reyansh was introduced to reading when he was merely two. “I used to read bedtime stories aloud to Reyansh when he was a toddler and gradually built a mini-library for him to develop a love for reading. Today he enjoys books authored by J.K. Rowling, Roald Dahl and Ruskin Bond as much as he loves reading and researching world-famous physicists Stephen Hawking, Richard Feynman, Michiko Kaku and George Gamow among many others,” says his proud mother.

Inspired to write for sharing information he has accumulated over the years, Reyansh started with short essays when he was seven. In 2019, he began writing Our Universe which took him two years to complete.

Thrilled with the release of his first e-book, Reyansh has started working on a book on maths. “Space technologies, mathematics and science are set to become very important subjects of the future. I write to spread knowledge and awareness of these subjects,” says this young prodigy.

At the instance of his doting mom, in 2020 Reyansh also launched a YouTube channel christened tojoswizzyworld to share videos and information across age groups on a wide range of subjects. “My dream is to become a qualified astronaut to explore the final frontiers of mankind. Who knows I may even discover a new planet!” he enthuses. 

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