Kids of Tomorrow
Aryaman and Sia together are a pretty talented duo of 13 year olds. My fellow classmates in school, they stand out for their relatively unique interests and their single mindedness about it.
Sia, a Korean who has spent most of her life in India, is what most kids her age are not. A fervent reader, she is rather a rare representative of the ‘book worms club’ in the gizmo age of today. Aryaman on the other hand, loves to float in the fantasy land of outer space and quantum physics! His interests include quantum physics, astrophysics biology, life outside space and related aspects. He is an inquisitive fellow who already seems a bit too ’scholarly’ for his age!
So, I decided to sit with the two of them for a short conversation as they chatted about their unique hobbies and interests. Here are the excerpts of our conversation:
Vandini Sharma (VS): Starting with you Sia, how DO you read books hours on end? How did the habit start? Do you see a career in writing for you?
Sia: You’re right; starting is probably the hardest part. For I — and you won’t believe it — actually used to hate books! Well, only until my mom got me my first Harry Potter. That looked daunting to me at first, but once I began, I couldn’t stop reading. There I went! I graduated from fiction to biographies and classics. Book reading isn’t hard work anymore (smiles). You won’t notice how quickly the time passes!
As for a career… well I’m not so sure. Writing has always been a sort of hobby to me, not yet a career. I’d much rather read!
VS: Now for Aryaman… what are your hobbies and interests? How does a 13 year old get so interested in SciFi and quantum physics?!
Aryaman: I like engineering spaceships, making Lego, playing Nintendo games and making stop motion movies out of Lego. I think Michio Kaku (Japanese scientist) is amazing! And (don’t laugh) I watch Doremon. Oh, I also like making video games and performing lectures on aliens and science!
Sia: [interrupts] Yeah, too many lectures! I should know, having you in class….
Aryaman: [continues] OK, OK. And I also really like sci-fi and the brain exploding tech in it! I like such topics because I want to bring science fiction to the real world. Don’t worry; quantum physics is only a small part of it!
As far as Earth is concerned…I think that humans:
- Think of themselves as superior to other life forms.
- Are extremely planetistic (can only think of their planet like nationalistic)
- Are overly superstitious
- Deny the existence of extraterrestrials (aliens)
VS: Hey, you’re an earthling! Well, any proof about your extraterrestrials?
Aryaman: HA! I have project black knife (US military project) on my side. In 1942, weird radiation signals (biological) were detected from vehicles all around the globe. Not much could be researched further, as funds dried up due to World War 2.
However, when those vehicles were analysed, scientists realized something very interesting! They realized that those radiations were the outcome of some very advanced technology at work and were not just ordinary signals.
It is possible that all the modern technology has been reverse engineered through those findings.
VS: Whoa, you really do seem to be convinced about your ideas! Back to Sia: Reading is no longer very cool with the present generation around the world. As a devout bookworm, how do you feel about this?
Sia: Well….yes I do feel bad about it. It’s true that due to low literacy rates in many poor countries, hundreds live their entire lives without knowing to read or write at all. However, amongst the haves, books of the genre of Harry Potter and Percy Jackson have really helped and attracted a lot of readers worldwide. So I won’t say it’s a totally hopeless situation! But at the same time, almost 4 out of every 6 kids are not readers…
Aryaman: [interrupts] Hey wait, that’s not true! I read encyclopedias all the time, Ancient Aliens, Michio Kaku books, Lego and…
VS: OK, OK, hold on Aryaman! We all don’t always read the same books! By the way, you were telling me in school the other day that you have ‘an idea fit to win the Nobel Prize’. What was that all about? Nobel Prize?
Aryaman: I’ve found a method to break the first law of thermodynamics! ‘Energy can’t be created or destroyed.’ Now the main reason a machine usually breaks down is because of friction. Mine won’t! You take a wheel and put magnets on it in a particular pattern. An electric field will be generated, lifting the wheel into thin air! And I also have a vacuum surrounding it and….I really think it will work!
VS: Wow! That for sure sounds interesting! Let’s hope you make it work; the country will have a Noble! Back to you Sia, which has been the most heartbreaking book you ever read?
Sia: There is this book, titled- Allegiant. I would change its ending, if left to me. My favorite character, Tris, dies…dies! I cried so much! I still can’t get over it.
VS: Yes, honestly, bad endings are tough to tolerate! But you have to agree, the time a book truly gets famous is when it goes to Hollywood. Do you think movies are better than the books? Why read books when you can simply watch the movie?
Sia: I can’t say for sure if it’s better or worse. For example if you take Harry Potter, both are good. And if you take Percy Jackson for example, the book is a thousand times better than the movie! Don’t ask me why. Read the book then you will understand.
And for the other question, I think that you truly get the full experience through the book. The movie will inevitably cut some parts from the book; it doesn’t always have the same feeling. This is a point hard to explain but once you read it, you’ll understand.
VS: That’s inspiring! Now for the end, let’s finish with some closing questions for both of you. Your interests are undoubtedly very diverse and different from other normal kids. How do you think that you can inspire the present generation towards your tastes or hobbies?
Aryaman: Talking about science, it really isn’t as boring or “nerdy” as it seems. I think knowing about worlds different than our own, billions of galaxies, stars, asteroids floating away in space, is wildly fascinating. You stop getting daunted by science once you really start understanding it.
For inspiring my age group…I’ll get them interested simply by talking about the very advanced technologies and other cool things in a simplified form. A (famous scientist)Michio Kaku method, for an example!
VS: So we guessed! And you, Sia?
Sia: I would probably introduce books which are in each kid’s field, or their interests. For example a boy likes science and sports, so I would recommend him science/ sports book, etc and so on. You just have to start with something good and before you know it, you won’t be able to keep away from books! There’s a wonderful quote I read somewhere, “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.”
