The School Journey
(Refresh Your Childhood), Author and Publisher: Dhanush.S, Pp. print version:
162, e version: 251, Price: Hard cover:$15, Paperback : $8, e version: not
mentioned, Language: English, First
edition: Nov 2022, ISBN: Hard cover:979-8362388959, Paperback:979-8362387617, e
version: not mentioned,
Everybody will
agree that for every human being, the stress free, interesting and best part of
the life is during the school days. The students enjoy and learn many things from
teachers, parents, senior students, class mates and others. Generally there are
no vested interests, with some exceptions. Lifelong friendship is built with
many students and teachers. These lead to mutual help and assistance in times
of difficulty. In several cases, these lead to family contacts and relationships
also. If one were to record these events, occurring in the childhood, it would
become a book. This book has been written by the author based on his
observations, dealings and feelings, but all the incidents and narrations are said
to be imaginary, though the emotions are said to be real. The author narrates
various stories in the school life and childhood days through his young friend
Digvijay, who is 21 years of age. The excitement and emotions especially on the
first day of the school, meeting the first friend and other friends, misunderstandings
and fights with friends, having first ever crush, love of the parents and the
family etc. have been narrated, as many children will have similar stories.
I have read the e
version of the Book, hence my comments are based on the e-version. However, I
have seen the photo of the cover of the book, in the email communication of the
author and also seen the posts on social media. The cover design of the book is
appropriate, attractive and appealing. Large and bold print has been used in
the e version. But I cannot comment about the quality of paper used and the details
on the back cover page etc. After providing the normal details of publications,
title page and Contents etc., it gives a disclaimer. Towards the end of the
book it provides “about the author”, who is a 18 year old teenager from Bangalore.
The Contents of the book have been divided as follows: (a) Welcome to the fun
world of “Primary” (b) The Roller-Coaster Duel ©My New World (d) My New World –
Part 2 (e) The Exam Bonanza (f) The Village Fun.
The book starts
with Digvijay’s preparing for going to the school for the first time. In the
roller coaster duel, he describes the crowd in the school. He joins Pre-Nursery-B.
He meets Bhavana her class friend. He has a feeling of crush on her. They dance
together in a programme. Then Ram joins the school. They become friends. Later parents
of Bhavana change her school. They both feel bad about it. Bhavana leaves the
school. He talks of large playgrounds, sliding gates of school, parking area
for school buses, large class rooms etc. He celebrates his roller coaster birthday. He
has a dream where he holds Bhavana’s hand.
Then mention is made of the graduation day. Digvijay completes Primary
with Ram. Another girl joins the school, but her name is Bhavana too, though a different
person. They talk and discuss about the lost ring of friendship. There is an
incident of UNO smash. In the new world part 2, the fun trip with family has
been described in detail. Here there are 2 instances depicting innocence of the
children. The first part of the trip is to Mumbai and the second part is to
Hyderabad. In Mumbai he gets an idea about the Dalal Street, besides visit to
the caves. In Hyderabad, they visit Ramoji Rao Film city. Later, there is some problem
in the examinations. The family decides to go to their village by train. He
visits the big farmland of his grand-father and also visits the temple.
The young author,
who is studying in 12th standard, has taken the initiative to write this
book with the objective of sharing the experience and stories of the
schooldays, refresh the childhood days for everyone and thus bring a smile on
their faces. The author has narrated even the small events, happenings in the
home and school, in a detailed manner. However, there are several learning observations/points
from this book e.g. (a) Never judge a person just by his actions. (b) Never
assume anything before analyzing any situation. (c)Ladies generally take more time
for shopping. (d) Never show off in front of others. (e) Never depend on anyone. It is our life and we
have to move alone. (f) Laugh at our own silly behaviour. (g) Family is more
important. It gives full support in times of difficulty. (h) For a child the
world is beautiful and his feelings are innocent.
But there are a
few mistakes of incompleteness/spelling/grammar etc. in the text of the book.
Name of the caves near Mumbai has been written wrongly. Large size print has
been used in the e version. A lot of Hindi words have been used in the script
of this book. However, the book is an interesting read. One is curious to go
through it, since firstly it has been written by a teenager and secondly
because it enables each one of us to relive our school life days once again. It
also motivates other children to write a book on a topic of their own choice or
venture into any other field to make an achievement in the early stages of life.
The present book is author’s first book. It is of interest to the young children
to get knowledge, experience and motivation and to the people in other age
groups, to relive their school days once again. We should celebrate our Childhood
through "The School Journey" of Digvijay. But the best part is that
Digvijay will continue with his stories further.
------------------vijaiksharma
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