By Bhavnath Pandit
Haldwani: In the serene valleys of Uttarakhand, where the mountains seem to bring the galaxies closer, a quiet revolution is taking shape. What initially began as a common dream of three childhood friends, Ajay Rawat, Rahul Panthri, and Shubham Kumar, has now grown into a movement.
Astroverse, a swadeshi startup born of the passion and purpose of the three friends, is now teaching children about the wonders of space science and creating opportunities for them as well to earn their livelihood.
Ajay Rawat left a government job to follow a calling written in the stars
Astroverse Co-Founder and CEO, Ajay’s story gives the youth the courage to dream. After leaving a secure and respectable job in the Ministry of Railways, he chose the path of uncertainty and struggle.
“I believed that something extraordinary could be created, so I left the job and used my technical experience to start Astroverse,” he said. “I aimed to create a unique organisation that will encourage children to think beyond tradition and Earth,” he said.
By making telescopes, creating mobile observatories and designing interactive models, he played a key role in expanding Astroverse effectively. Today, Ajay's story is an inspiration for millions of youth in rural India, who struggle between tradition and passion.
With a background in India’s top space institutes, Shubham Kumar is helping kids build rockets
Shubham, another co-founder and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Astro Pathshala, an educational wing of Astroverse, had the experience of working in the country's prestigious space education institute, which gave this startup a strong educational base.
“I was in the space sector and had experience in studying hydro rockets, telescopes, comets and satellite making before creating Astroverse. This helped us to make Astro Pathshala a tremendous success, like many schools in the region collaborated with us,” he said.
In the last three years, he has prepared a team of more than 10 high-level teachers who are now preparing students of different age groups in many schools for space and future possibilities related to it.
“We aim to spread education in India in easy and practical ways. Education cannot be made effective without a creative approach,” he said.
Architect Rahul Panthri built a future rooted in space tourism and education
Rahul, the third co-founder and COO of AstroStops, a tourism wing of Astroverse, believed in making his own path instead of living life according to traditional social norms.
An architect by profession, Rahul was witness to his village falling prey to migration, so he started looking for opportunities in this land, where locals get good education and good employment opportunities.
“Being keen on space since childhood, I understood the availability of the right guidance and opportunities better. For this, I thought awareness about astronomy among the general public was a must,” he said.
Works and plans of Astroverse
While most startups turn to metro cities, Astroverse chose the mountains as their home. In the lap of clear skies and nature, this team organises astro events and employs local youth.
So far, more than 35 people have got permanent employment. They have been trained as astronomy educators, event managers and content creators.
“Astroverse promotes space education in schools. We design science labs in schools, where trained teachers of Astroverse prepare courses for children in school on many other subjects like rocket designing and satellite making,” said Ajay.
He said the courses were also verified by ISRO, so our aim to increase space awareness in India and prepare the coming generation for the future has global recognition.
“In future, we want to expand Astrostops and school programmes across the country. We dream that every child in India will one day look at the open sky and not only count the stars but also understand them,” Ajay added.
Read More
