Page 36 - EducationWorld August 2022

Young Achievers

RP took to playing this “I believe in the power of the writ-
complex mind game in his ten word. The world is confronted
tender years, inspired by with grave challenges of environ-
his elder sister R.Vaishali, ment destruction because of climate
also a GM. At age four, change. The objective of my latest
he began training at the book is to suggest ways and means
city’s Bloom Chess Acad- to combat climate change,” says this
emy. By age five, he began woke young author.
K
competing and winning Similarly, artik , Mix ie &
district and state-level Corona: A J ourney ab out Corona-
championships and in virus Prevention (2020) provided
2012, won the National practical suggestions about Covid
K
under-7 championship prevention while artik , Daddy A nd
staged in Puducherry. Plastic attempts to find solutions
Despite his young age to the menace of plastic pollution.
and natural aptitude for Moreover, for his poem ‘Plastic — A
chess, RP is committed to Curse’, Karnav was felicitated by
R. PRAGGNANANDAA serious training. His daily regimen the United Nations Environment
Programme in 2020.
includes seven hours of practice
under the watchful eye of coach R.B. The only child of Paras Rastogi, a
hennai-based teenage chess Ramesh. cybersecurity professional, and Dr.
prodigy and GM (grand “Chess players are fortunate Shweta, a clinical dietician, Karnav
Cmaster) R. Praggnanand- compared to players of field sports. started reading when he was four.
haa (aka RP) created history on During the first and second waves of “I am blessed with parents who
February 22 by besting Norway’s the Covid lockdown, I practiced on gifted me books of my choice over
five-time reigning world champion my laptop and was busy playing on- the years. They even signed me up
Magnus Carlsen in 39 moves at the line tournaments and improved my as a library member when I was
Meltwater Champions Chess Tour’s game. But although I train seriously, in kindergarten. However, my late
Airthings Masters online tourna- I play to enjoy the game without wor- grandfather and cardiologist Dr.
ment. Only two other Indians — rying about outcomes,” says India’s S.K. Rastogi whose medical articles
Viswanathan Anand and Pentala youngest ever chess GM. I have grown up reading, was my
Harikrishna — have achieved this Way to go Champ! major inspiration,” says this gifted
feat. History was repeated on May Shivani Chaturvedi (Chennai) teen author.
21 at the Chessables Masters online To inspire young children into
rapid chess tournament in which creative writing, Karnav has since
RP again defeated Carlsen in 40 KARNAV RASTOGI conducted 20 ‘Author in You —
moves. Magic with Words’ workshops at
Over the past six years RP has prominent schools in Mumbai,
checkmated several global Top 10 lthough he has just entered Aurangabad, Pune and Bengaluru.
GMs including Russia-born Dutch his first teenage year, Karnav “After I complete my Plus Two, my
player Anish Giri, Armenian-Amer- ARastogi (13), a class VIII goal is to qualify as a doctor while
ican Levon Aronian, Azerbaijani student of Mumbai’s top-ranked continuing to write books for the
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar, and Filipi- R.N. Podar School, has already writ- betterment of humanity,” says this
no-American Wesley So. However, ten four paperback novels and three woke idealist.
K
he most values his victory against e-graphic books titled artik and Power to your pen!
Paraguayan GM Axel Bachmann at Mix ie featuring a ten-year-old boy Paromita Sengupta (Bengaluru)
the Isle of Man championship way and walking-talking robot.
back in 2016, which launched his Acknowledged as India’s
international career. ‘youngest fiction writer’
The younger of two children of by India Book of Records
A. Rameshbabu, a manager at the (2017), Future Kalam Book
Tamil Nadu Co-operative Bank, and of Records (2018), and
homemaker Nagalakshmi, RP is a Indian Achievers’ Book of
class XI student of the Velammal Records, Karnav released
Matriculation Higher Secondary his first book artik &
K
School, Chennai. “I attribute my Mix ie — A J ourney A b out
latest success to school and parental Creation when he was only
support,” he acknowledges. Accord- eight years of age. His lat-
K
ing to his teachers, RP is an excel- est ouevre artik , Mix ie &
lent and dedicated student, who on Climate Change: I t’ s N ow
several occasions wrote examina- or N ever was released on
tions on schedule after completing World Environment Day
tournaments at 2 a.m. (June 5).

36 EDUCATIONWORLD AUGUST 2022