JOIN USMaking mobile applications is like playing games for them. At the tender age of 15 and 14 respectively, Shravan Kumaran and Sanjay Kumaran have understood the ifs and buts of Java coding and mobile app development beyond one’s imagination.
While currently studying in Grade 11 and 9 at Hirandani Upscale School in Chennai, both Shravan and Sanjay are also identified as the youngest programmers of their company, ‘Go Dimensions’, which they founded in 2011.They have developed 11 apps available on the Apple App Store and Google’s Android Play store, which have received over 70,000
downloads.
They were recently in the capital during the ‘Play N Learn’ initiative, a workshop elucidating on the importance and impact of game-based learning amongst children in India. In conversation with Metrolife, they speak about their experiences in school and how they handle all the name and fame at this early age.
“We come across this question most often,” laughs Sanjay. “Everybody thinks that we must be the stars of our school but there’s nothing like that. We are very much like all our friends,” he adds.With their father as the vice president of Cognizant in Chennai, the bright brothers didn’t have to make many efforts in learning basic programming like Microsoft Quick Beginners All purpose Symbolic Instruction Code (Qbasic).
“Both Sanjay and I love computers. When our father used to be on the computer all the time, we felt very curious about it. Whenever he used to take a two minute break or a tea break in between his work, we used to run towards the system and try experimenting with his mails and everything,” says Shravan.
One finds it difficult to believe as to how the two manage their school schedule and exams alongside such time consuming programming.
The younger one, Sanjay, clarifies, “We have a time table that we follow very rigidly. We make it a point that every day we spend two hours in studying, an hour in playing cricket and football, and another hour in programming. And during exams, we entirely devote our time to studying.”
Shravan secured 85 per cent marks in grade 10 and Sanjay got A grades in most of his subjects. Surprisingly enough, even though the Kumaran brothers might come off like those geeky children who are known as class toppers and are tagged with scorning names by their fellow classmates, they are quite contrary to the same.
“Everyone thinks that we belong to the ‘brainy’ group of our class, but it’s nothing like that. The conversations that we have don’t just include ‘programming’. We are all big time football and cricket lovers. FIFA 2015 - the X box game is one our favourites,” they tell Metrolife.
Meanwhile, the brothers have gained immense momentum through Android and iOS apps which have nothing less than 3 star rating on both the play store and the Apple Store. Some of their apps like ‘Alphabet Board’ and ‘Colour Palette’ are based on game-based learning which enables children to learn effectively and interactively.
Currently they are working on creating a Virtual Reality Device called ‘GoVR’ which can be used to have an immersive experience. Using this device and their software, virtual tourism, architecture review, walkthrough and In-Field Game experience can be achieved. However, their future goals seem much more than creating apps and devices. “We both want to do Bachelor of Engineering (BE) in Computer sciences and MBA from one of the top 10 universities of the country,” they say.