Hey earthkins!
Eeeeeeeeeee! A new earth octon is here! Another opportunity to make lots of resolutions (and break them!), another 12 months to grow taller and stronger (and hopefully smarter!), another year full of celebrations and laughter and friends and fun (and exams! Yuckthoo!).
But hey, it is also another octon full of Taranauts contests and prizes and at least two new Taranauts adventures – woohoooo!
Have a mastastic 2012, everyone!
Taranauts Zarpa, Zvala and Tufan
Hey earthkins! 
Our fifth adventure – Taranauts – The Mystery of the Syntilla Silvers – is here! If you want to get your hands on a copy IMMEDIATELY, just send us a mail at taranauts@gmail.com! Not only will you get a special discount on the book – you pay Rs 160 instead of Rs 195 – but your book will also be personally autographed by the author, AND you will receive a little surprise gift as well. You can also order it off the web here.
If you just can’t wait until your book arrives to get a sneak peek into your new adventure, watch and listen to our author Roopa Pai herself tell you all about it here.
Once you’ve read the book, don’ forget to write in and tell us what you thought of it – we’ll make sure your review appears on this website pronto.
What are you hanging around for, then? Go send that email! We can’t wait to meet you again!
Eeeeeeeee! Our first adventure – ‘Taranauts 1: The Quest for the Shyn Emeralds’ is now a prescribed ‘reader’ for the earthkins of Grade IV of Inventure Academy, Bangalore.The school tells us that this means that while earthkins have to read the book, they don’t have to take exams (uggghhhh!) about our adventure. What they will do is more fun things, like discussing it, writing little book reviews of it and even maybe writing short stories using the three of us as characters! 
When our author Roopa Pai went to visit, the kids told her they had really, really enjoyed the book. How mastastic is that! A lot of them even lined up to buy the books of our second, third and fourth adventures, and wanted Roopa to sign the books for them. They have been writing in to us since then, telling us what they think of the other books.
Thanks, Inventure Academy!
Zarpa: Remember the Great Taranauts Contest No 3? If you’ve forgotten it, here’s where you can go to refresh your memory http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g_yiZU0WTU.
Zvala: Now, you do know who won it, don’t you? An-other BOY earthkin! Aaaaarghhhhhh!
Tufan: Yeeaaaahhhhh! It was 13-year-old Ankur Chattopadhyay of Jamshedpur, who came up with the winning name for the deadly meenmaach of Syntilla – ‘BIJLIMAACH!’ What does Ankur do besides thinking up mastastic names for scary creatures? Let’s find out, on MY page! Just click on the ‘Tufan’ tab at the top of this page to go there.
Zvala, Zarpa and Tufan: It’s done, it’s duh-uhne, one earthkin has wuh-uhn!
Earthkins(eagerly): Hurrayyyyy! So who is it?
Zvala, Zarpa and Tufan (rapping): It was so / tough to choose, we hated to / see anyone lose, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah-ay-ay, oh yeah…
Earthkins: That’s all very well, now can you tell us who won?
Zvala, Zarpa and Tufan (not paying any attention): Know this, earthkins / who didn’t win a place, you’re super cool / A-ny-ways!
Earthkins: Aaaaaarrrrghhhhh! We KNOW all that! Our teachers are telling us that until they’re blue in the face! Now can you PLEASE tell us who won?????
Zarpa (grinning): Okay, okayyyyy, earthkins. Just go the Contests page (click on the ‘Contests’ tab on top of this page) to see the results.
Zvala: Eeeeeeeeee! We’re so glad you are here – BOTH of you – the ones that took the long and winding fun route through http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g_yiZU0WTU and the ones who couldn’t wait to come here pronto! Now let’s get straight to the details of The Great Taranauts Contest – No 3!
Zarpa: This time, you have to dream up a name for the scary meenmaach you see on the right!
Tufan (shuddering): I don’t even want to look. I had a LOAD of trouble with that one at Syntilla, I can tell you.
Zvala: Yeah, it was scary! We were in the middle of Lake Shawksar Ovar, which was all frozen and all, and then an Ograzur appeared with a club, and….
Zarpa and Tufan: Zvaalaaaa! You’re not supposed to give the story away until the book comes out!
Zvala (reddening): Oh… sorry!
Zarpa: Anyway, back to the contest. A little bit about this meenmaach – that glowing antenna-type thing on top of its head can be quite ’shocking’ – so it’s better to stay away from it. The vicious little creatures hunt in packs, and once they’ve touched you with their antennae five or six times, you lose consciousness…
Zvala: …and THAT’s when they begin to eat you with those razor-sharp teeth – from the toes up!!!!
Zarpa: Calm down, Zvala. Earthkins, your name for the meenmaach should be short (not more than 12 letters, say), and should created from a combination of words from two Indian languages, or from an Indian language and English.
Tufan: And it should describe the meenmaach, and send shivers down your spine when you hear it!
Zvala: The name we like best is what we will name this ugly thing in our next book – The Mystery of the Syntilla Silvers – which will be out at the end of August. And if we choose YOUR entry, then YOUR name will go into Book 5 as the earth’s Most Mastastic Meenmaach Namer! Ten other entries we love will also feature in the book, along with the names of those who thought them up.
Zarpa: That’s not all! You get to win loads of prizes too! We even have a little prize for each and every participant.
Tufan: But remember, we can only send you your prize if we know where to send it, so make sure you put down your NAME, AGE, SCHOOL, FULL POSTAL ADDRESS, and a CONTACT NUMBER along with your entry.
Zvala: Send your Meenmaach name and all your other details to us here – taranauts@gmail.com. Hurry! Contest closes July 30, 2011!
Zarpa: And we will announce the results right here, a week later – on the 7th of August. Get those Meenmaach Name-inators going – we’re waiting to hear from you!
Zvala: Hello, hello, hello! It’s been a lo-o-o-ng time since we spoke to you last but… umm… we’ve been a little busy, and…
Tufan: Excuses, excuses! Just admit it – you’ve been too lazy to update the blog.
Zvala (scowling): Well, who asked YOU not to update it, then, Mr Big Talker? This isn’t MY blog, in case you haven’t noticed, it’s OURS.
Tufan: Um.. excuse me? You’re the one who goes chatter-chatter-chatter and hardly ever lets Zarpa or me get a word in, so what’s the point of us trying to…
Zarpa (fixing Zvala and Tufan with a don’t-say-another-word glare): Ok, let’s take this from the top. Hi earthkins! It’s so good to talk to you all again. You see, we were away in Glo having yet another adventure – a pretty scary one, too. But all’s well that ends well…
Zvala: Guess what, in this new adventure – The Race for the Glo Rubies – we get to, like, meet – eeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Dana Suntana!!! Yesssssssss!
Tufan (rolling his eyes): Yeah, that too.
Zarpa: Oh, and we also get to meet Dada – Tufan’s big brother – he’s the coolest!
Tufan (looking pleased): Yes, and we got to eat lots and lots of the most yummilicious dish ever – Glo-by-Chocolate!
Zarpa (excitedly): Speaking of which, do you remember the contest we had a few earth octets ago, where we gave you a recipe and asked you to name the dish? And remember Glo-by-Chocolate was the entry that won?
Zvala: And remember who came up with that name? An earthkin called Nihaal George, that’s who!
Tufan: Yeah, that’s his picture right there! And if you want to know more about him, go straight to my page – now.
Zarpa: Hey, hey, before you go, one more thing – don’t forget to read our new adventure, and tell us what you think of it. And oh, do check out the Reviews page for more fan mail from earthkins, and the Press page to see what the newspapyruses on earth are saying about us!
Hey Earthkins!
Here’s wishing you all another magical trip around your big yellow star!
And don’t forget to join us on more super exciting Mithyadventures in Earth Octon 2011!
Cheers!
Taranauts Zarpa, Zvala and Tufan
PS: A big Thank You to our super illustrator Priya Kuriyan for making this beautiful card!
Hey earthkins!
Taranauts @ Bookaroo 2009
If you live in Delhi, or are hanging around there this weekend, come meet us and our author Roopa Pai at Bookaroo, the most mastastic children’s literature festival ever (www.bookaroo.in) ! This year, Bookaroo is happening at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in Janpath, over Friday, Saturday and Sunday (26, 27 and 28th Nov).
Join The Great Taranauts Star Chase each day – a mad, fun-filled earthding of Taranautty stories and Taraknotty games and challenges! The team with the highest TQ (Taranaut Quotient) stands to win some real cool prizes. Plus, there are fun takeaways for EVERYONE!
And when does this Most Exciting Star Chase happen?
Friday Nov 25 – 11:30 am – 1230 pm
Saturday Nov 26 – 3 pm – 4 pm
Sunday Nov 27 – 3 pm – 4pm
Just a few earth-octites to go now – see you there!
Taranauts Zarpa, Zvala, and Tufan
Zvala: Eeeeeeee! The results of the Name A Mithyadish contest are just in!
Tufan: And the winning dish name is…
Zarpa: And the Emperaza or Emperani of Dish-Namers is….
Zvala: And the earthkin who wins the mastastic prize this time around is…
(Earthkins hold their breath)
All Taranauts together: And you really thought we would give it away so easily???!!! You’ve got to work for it, earthkins!
Earthkins: Groaaaan.
Long pause. Tufan stares at the sky, hands in pockets, whistling. Zvala hums annoyingly and brushes her hair. Zarpa turns cartwheels.
Earthkins (together): Oh, come ON, you guys!
Zarpa (grinning): Ok, okayyyy! We won’t torture you any longer. Here’s what you need to do to find out who won: Zip to the Contests page (click on the Contests tab on top of this page)!
