Serious writing from India's little authors

NEW DELHI: No wishy-washy fairytales, toy lands or flippant fiction for them. Rather, the school going segment of Indian authors like to dabble in more serious themes like the environment and the art of spelling well.

Meet Ishita Gulati, a student of Gurgaon-based Scottish High International, Krittika Sridharan of New Delhi-based Sanskriti School and Vinamre Chaudhury of Apeejay School in Faridabad, the winners of 2008 Scholastic Writing Awards.

These three believe that writing skills can be honed with "voracious reading and originality of thought without external efforts".

Their essays and short stories will feature in a unique anthology, "For Kids by Kids", published by Scholastic India Pvt. Ltd for school-going readers. The volume was launched here by the bookstore Crossword over the weekend.

"This is a very special book for us. It not only reflects Scholastic's efforts to promote reading but also encourage children's creativity," said Sayani Basu, director of publishing at Scholastic.

"We were very impressed by the standard of writing that the winners have produced. The book gives us an idea what children think, dream and want to write about," she added.

The book divides the contributions into two categories - fiction and non-fiction.

Ishita, an articulate fifth grader who has the country's current affairs and key issues on her fingertips, penned the short story that was adjudged one of the best by Scholastic's panel of judges comprising authors Anupa Lal, Samit Basu and senior CNN-IBN journalist Suhasini Haider. 

"My story is about a girl who wants to make it to the Spelling Bee because she is a good speller and the odds that she has to fight to get there. She overcomes them. It is about grit and determination," the bespectacled Ishita, 10, explained to IANS in flawless diction.

She has been writing for the last three years.

"My short story on the activities that people like to indulge in won a prize in a school contest. It encouraged me to take up writing seriously," said the author, whose forte is fiction.

She usually writes after homework or in solitude when she is not glued to television watching her favourite serial, "Hannah Montana". 

She loves to read mystery books like Nancy Drew thrillers and a bit of Enid Blyton. "And I want to be a mystery book writer and a wildlife biologist when I grow up," Ishita said.     

Krittika, who is in Class 9, on the other hand, is more clued into non-fiction and the environment.

"My essay for the anthology is on Baba Amte. He inspires me. I have always wanted to do something for the greater good of mankind - become something in life, make documentaries and later become an author of both fiction and non-fiction books," the serious student said.

Apart from the environment and biographies, Krittika loves history. "Especially the French Revolution. I would love to write something about French Revolution some day - a kind of fiction that will keep the facts intact but will be woven with imagination," said the budding author.

Krittika loves cycling, reading and playing tennis. "I also watch a lot of serials on the History Channel," said the teenager, whose favourite show is the "Yes, Minister" series.

Judge Haider, a journalist and mother of two school-going girls, feels it is wrong to think that Gen Next is not reading.

"But there is a problem. While judging the entries for non-fiction categories, I realised that a lot was being taken from the internet and in the process, the writers were cheating themselves in many ways.

"We need to guard against erosion of originality in their creative endeavours," Haider added.

According to her, child writers do not need role models because there are too many Indian authors in English now to make them feel confident about their skills.

"But we must teach them where exactly to find the knowledge - the right sites on the internet and show them the right books to read," Haider said.