JOIN USOnly students until a few days ago, these children are now proud authors. Waves, a compilation of 16 short stories penned by as many school children, was released on the occasion of National Book Week.
The young authors as young as 13 and old upto 17 years have explored themes like mystery, sibling rivalry, love stories and horror stories in about 2000 words. The book, published by Cinedarbaar and National Book Trust was released under the aegis of ‘Qitaabe’ – a celebration of National Book Week at DLF Place, Saket. The students, who were active in literary activities in their school, were given a chance to participate in workshops to help them write stories, build characters and finalise plots.
Ayushman Gangwar, a Std VIII student of Army Public School, Shankar Vihar, whose story ‘Inheritance Blood’ is about a woman’s murder and how some teenagers try to find out the killers, says, he was inspired by Sherlock Holmes. “I recently read Sherlock Holmes. Besides, I am a fan of mystery novels. So, that inspired me. The challenge was to remain in the word limit and give flow to the story,” says the 13-year-old, who wishes to be a full-time author after retirement.
Having visited many places said to be haunted, writing a horror story came naturally for Std X student of Loreto Convent, Anusha Sinha. In a simple yet engrossing style, she talks about a 10-year old girl who makes friends by cooking up spooky stories.
“My dad is in the Army and travels a lot. So, I have been to many places. Some had horror stories attached to them such as Shimla and Binagudi in West Bengal. I have always been into poetry reading and writing. So, I had to manage this shift,” shares Anusha.
Supriya Suri, Cinedarbaar’s founder-member, says, “It is for the first time that we organised a literary event specially for children. Not many school children participate in cinema events. The purpose was to involve school kids in literary events and the occasion was perfect too.”
The fascination of being called a writer and expressing one’s views with the world led many to pen down their thoughts in the form of a story. Parinaaz, a student of Scottish High International, Gurgaon, says, “It feels awesome to see your name as an author. For me, writing is a way of expressing myself, because I can’t draw or paint.”
Parinaaz, who enjoys reading both romantic and tragic stories wanted to convey a message in her story ‘Faith. Hold On’. She says, “I was confused about the theme but sure that it has to have a message. So I wrote about a girl who regains her faith in goodness and God.”
Inosha Dhingra, a Std XII student, was always fascinated by opera houses. She weaves a story around an opera house and a murder. “I did lot of research on opera houses before writing my story RIP- Requiescat In Pace’, Latin for Rest In Peace. The characterisation and plot building was fun.”