The winners of the sixth edition of the annual Sunday Herald Short Story Competition, on Friday, received their trophies from Deccan Herald Editor K N Tilak Kumar.

Srikanth R Rao, project manager, bagged the first prize; Sagar Agarwal, a Class XII student at Delhi Public School, Bangalore South, the second, and freelance writer Deepa Sunder, the third prize.

The winners were picked from among 750 entries that were received for the competition.
The jury comprised author Usha K R, writers Shiela Kumar and Vikram Sampath.

Receiving the award, an ecstatic Srikanth said, “I am extremely flattered. I honestly was not expecting to win. I sent my story because my wife and son asked me to and it came as a surprise that I won the first prize. The award makes me want to continue writing.”

Thanking the judges for picking his story, Agarwal said the award came as a complete shock to him.

“I was getting bored during my summer vacation after a lot of studying and that is when I wrote my story. I am really thankful to the judges for picking it.”

Deepa Sunder said she was doubtful, too, like others, about winning a prize. “The recognition gives writers like me immense confidence to pursue it further.”

According to Shiela Kumar, while some stories were personal confessions, others were narratives. “We picked the ones that were a blend of both.”