Noted author, Shantanu Gupta, launched his new graphic novel – ‘Ajay to Yogi Adityanath’ for the young readers, here in Lucknow on Monday to mark the 51st birthday of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
The graphic novel was launched in more than 51 schools of Uttar Pradesh.
Shantanu Gupta has written two bestselling titles on Yogi Adityanath- ‘The Monk Who Became Chief Minister’ and ‘The Monk Who Transformed Uttar Pradesh’.
The author himself was present at Seth Anandram Jaipuria School besides hundreds of children along with the UP education minister Sandeep Singh and other guests.
This was the first time that a book was launched in multiple locations simultaneously with so many participants, that too, children. The launch created an Asia book of records.
Sharing the finer details about his new graphic novel. Gupta said that ‘Ajay to Yogi Adityanath’, is a journey of a young boy Ajay Singh Bisht born in the hinterlands of Uttarakhand with six other siblings.
His father Anand Singh Bisht was a junior forest officer and mother Savitri Devi a homemaker. From childhood, Ajay was fond of taking care of the family cows, listening to stories of freedom fighters and participating in the school debates. They all lived in a one-and-a-half room house in a remote village named Panchur, in today’s Uttarakhand.
From here, Ajay rose to become Mahant of Gorakhnath Mutt, youngest member of the Parliament and the Chief Minister of the most populous state of India, Uttar Pradesh.
‘Ajay to Yogi Adityanath’ is a story of sheer grit, determination and hard work for every student to follow and take inspiration from.
Gupta said that he was able to narrate this story through the inspirational accounts he heard and documented during his conversations with various individuals who were a part of Yogi Adityanath’s growing up years. They included his father late Anand Singh Bisht, his mother Savitri Devi, his friends from the Panchur village, classmates and teachers from his colleges in Kotdwar and Rishikesh and through various fellow saints and leaders.
Shantanu narrated the detailed literary and artistic journey that the graphic novel has gone through in last one year.
He said that he storyboarded all the pages based on his primary research. Along with the dialogues, he suggested the possible layout to the artists.
From there on the team of artists and designers Nitesh Kushwaha, Akash Jaiswal and Pallavi Saxena took on. First the artists did the rough thumbnailing for estimation of the page layout, then they did the meticulous pencil art work – the most important part of the journey, then they inked it, did panelling, added dialogues and then the colours.
Detailed review and rigorous feedback loops were run through for each panel, each page and every dialogue between the team members.
To make it more engaging, the book also has many puzzles and games on Yogi Adityanath at the end. The QR code in the book will take the readers to a website, where young readers can play games and puzzles to know more about Yogi Adityanath and Uttar Pradesh.
Speaking at the Lucknow launch, PWD Jitin Prasada motivated children to dream big and constantly look up to successful people like chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
He said he was elated to be a part of a book launch which is ranking at number one in the children’s new releases category on Amazon. He emphasised on innovation and value of new and innovative ideas, like the innovative graphic novel author Shantanu has created on the chief minister.
Prasada invoked page 5 of the book – Ajay to Yogi Adityanath, which depicts the Chief Minister living in a one room house, with six siblings in poverty and later rose to become an iconic leader that he is today.
Lucknow MLA and former Joint director of ED, Rajeshwar Singh said that he is personally impressed with the personality of Yogi Adityanath, who has transformed Uttar Pradesh and cracked down on crime in the state.
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