The bestseller graphic novel ‘Ajay to Yogi Adityanath’ has reached Tamil Nadu all the way from Uttar Pradesh and all thanks to Noted Author, Shantanu Gupta. In the past, Shantanu Gupta has written two bestselling titles on Yogi Adityanath– The Monk Who Became Chief Minister and The Monk Who Transformed Uttar Pradesh. And now he has written an inspirational graphic novel on UP Chief Minister- ‘Ajay to Yogi Adityanath’. for young readers. On Tuesday, the author launched his latest Graphic Novel at the Chinmaya Heritage Center in Tamil Nadu. The book has been launched in the presence of 800+ children. S Gurumurthy, Shehzad Poonawala and Swami Mitrananda were also present at the event.
According to the author Shantanu Gupta, his graphic novel ‘Ajay to Yogi Adityanath’, is about 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 his mother Savitri Devi was a homemaker. From childhood, Ajay was fond of taking care of the family cows, listening to stories of freedom fighters and participating in school debates. They all lived in a one-and-a-half-room house in a remote village name Panchur, in today’s Uttarakhand. From here Ajay rose to become Mahant of Gorakhnath Mutt, the youngest member of the parliament of India and the Chief Minister of the most populated state of India, Uttar Pradesh. The author added that ‘Ajay to Yogi Adityanath’ is a story of sheer grit, determination and hard work for every student to follow and take inspiration from.
Earlier this month, this graphic novel was launched in 51+ schools of Uttar Pradesh on the 5th of June, the 51st birthday of Yogi Adityanath. The launch created an Asia book of records.
The author said that he is 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 were, 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 who crossed paths with him.
However, to make the book 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 100+ games and puzzles to know more about Yogi Adityanath and Uttar Pradesh.
Speaking at the Chennai launch, Tuglak’s editor S Gurumurthy said that this is the first time he is making an exception to come for the book launch of a living politician. Shehzad Poonawala, the national spokesman of BJP, who was in the city for this mega launch, addressed the students and told them about the character building that this book and the life of Yogi Adityanath teaches all us. Shehzad also talked about the infrastructure and governance transformation that Yogi Adityanath has brought to Uttar Pradesh. Poonawala also brought kids’ attention to how big an animal and nature lover Yogi Adityanath is.
Swami Mitrananda of Chinmaya Mission called upon the students and pointed them towards page number 5 of the graphic novel, which shows how Yogi Adityanath was brought up with seven siblings in a one-room house and by his hard work, divinity and dedication he rose to become the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.
Shantanu conducted a quiz on Yogi Adityanath and Uttar Pradesh and connected directly with hundreds of children. Shantanu is known for bringing all his books to various Indian languages. In the same spirit, the cover of the upcoming Tamil translation is also launched during the event. Speed artist Amit Verma fascinated everyone by painting the portrait of Yogi Adityanath in a few minutes on a life-size canvas. Social media enthusiasts tweeted extensively about the event and Hashtag #YogiBookRocksChennai trended throughout India on Twitter. In this massive book launch program children from various schools joined the event.
