Ramendra Kumar
Ramendra Kumar (Ramen) is an Indian writer for children with 35 books in English. They are also available in 15 Indian languages and 14 foreign languages. He has also written satire, poetry, travelogues, adult fiction and non-fiction. Biography. Ramen was born in Hyderabad. He attended Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet. After completing his Engineering and MBA he moved to Rourkela when he got a job in Rourkela Steel Plant. His daughter Ankita, son Aniket & Labrador Aryan are bonsai celebrities in their own right. Writing career. Ramen commenced by writing satire and poetry but once his daughter started pestering  him for stories, he shifted to children's fiction. Ramen's first book for children came out in 1997. Since then his work has been published by Penguin, Duckbill Hachette, Pratham, National Book Trust (NBT), Rupa & Co., Children's Book Trust (CBT), Navneet, Readomania, Pauline & Ponytale. His stories have been included in ten anthologies brought out by CBT as well as collections brought out by AWIC, Vikas, Pustak Mahal, Readomania and Blue Pencil. His stories have also been published in the 'Chicken Soup for the Soul Series.' Ramen's work has been published and reviewed in major newspapers and magazines . One of his stories has been included in the text book for class 9 students of Norway while another story has been adapted as Kamishibai, the traditional form of storytelling in Japan. His stories have also found a place in 15 textbooks for schools following CBSE and ICSE and State Boards as well as in the curriculum in schools abroad. Six of his books have been recommended by Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), India, as Supplementary Readers. His read-aloud book Paplu the Giant was selected for story telling sessions to mark the International Literacy Day, by its publisher  Pratham. On 7 September 2013 the story was narrated in more than 25 languages in 27 states across the country as well as abroad. Paplu the Giant has also been brought out as an audio book by "Radio Mirchi" in five languages as a part of its CSR initiative 'Mirchi Cares'. The book  has been distributed by Pratham in collaboration with National Association for the Blind. Department of Education, Government of Sri Lanka has published a text book for students of Grade 5 which will be distributed free of cost to 3.2 lakh children in the island country. His adaptation  of Juvenile Justice Act, 2006 in a Graphic Book format was endorsed by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime ( UNODC ). His graphic book on diabetes was published by Butterflies, a NGO involved with street and working children. Ramen has also to his credit several travelogues, satires, articles on relationships and parenting issues which have been published  both online as well as offline. His research based literary pieces which have found a place in different anthologies. Ramen has also to his credit several literary pieces which have been published in different anthologies. The first edition of his maiden book for  adults Mohini, was sold out in the very first week of its release. His first book on non-fiction, Effective Parenting: A New Paradigm, has received an excellent response in both its print as well as eAvatars and is in its second reprint. An inspirational speaker and storyteller, Ramen has been invited to participate in several festivals including Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival, Jaipur Literature Festival, Hyderabad Literary Festival, Bookaroo, Bhubaneswar Festival of Storytelling (BhuFesto), Chandigarh Children's Literature Festival etc. as well as seminars organised by Sahitya Akademi, IGNOU and NBT among others. He presented a paper at the  31st IBBY World Congress held in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2008. He chaired two sessions at the 36th IBBY World Congress held in Aug-Sept. 2018, the only Indian writer to do so. Ramen has also conducted Creative Writing sessions in Denmark, Kenya & Sri Lanka. Awards and accolades. Ramen won 5 prizes in the ‘Competition for Writers of Children’s Books, 2016 (English) organized by CBT. Ramen was also felicitated by the writers and publishers of Sri Lanka for his significant contribution to children’s literature, in December 2017. Ramen was  conferred the ‘Hall of Fame’ award by Public Relations Council  of India (PRCI) in March 2020.