Vandana Bhagra, Shimla
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Keekli Charitable Trust organised a webinar for the winners of the short story contest on Sunday, 9 June. Nearly thirty-five participants attended the webinar in which the jury, Dr Mrinal Chatterjee and Ms Kavita Jhala, shared nuggets of writing wisdom with them. The webinar was moderated by Ms Sonia Dogra.
Dr Mrinal Chatterjee is a journalist and author. He has authored six and edited four books on mass communication. He has published over fifty research papers in national and international journals. He also writes fiction, essays, plays and columns in English, Odia and Bengali. He has published seven novels and eight anthologies of short stories, many of which have been translated into several Indian and foreign languages. Dr Chatterjee has written the story and screenplay of three major television serials in Odia.
Ms Kavita Jhala is the founder of ‘Kaffeinated Konversations’ – a community that supports like-minded people, provides a platform to them for intellectual sharing and stimulation and also encourages them to bring out their skills. She has been widely published in TOI and her stories and poetry are part of various anthologies. She has authored a book titled 4k’d Design.
The guests discussed various aspects of the writing craft, such as plot, setting, dialogues, character depictions and twists in storytelling, in over an hour of writing discussion.
Referring to his own technique, Dr Chatterjee outlined the process of story writing for the participants. From idea development to conclusion, to putting away the story for a few days before returning to the editing – the minutest details were touched upon for the benefit of our young writers. The importance of craft books was also discussed, and Dr Chatterjee introduced the winners to Stephen King’s writing memoir On Writing.
Ms Jhala addressed the participants about the importance of adding dialogue for a well-balanced story. Talking about minor characters, she introduced them to James Campbell’s book Write Your Own Funny Stories. Both guests spoke about the importance of reading in the life of every writer and encouraged the children to pick up different genres and learn from master storytellers.
A Question and Answers Session was held towards the end in which our guests answered the queries of our participants. The children came up with interesting questions about comic relief in thrillers, symbolism and imagery, developing unique mythological characters and writing in different genres.
The session concluded with the address of Vandana Bhagra, President of Keekli Charitable Trust and the brain behind this contest.
The Pan-India Short Story Writing Contest was held by Keekli Charitable Trust earlier this year. Fifty-one winners from one hundred eighty-two entries were chosen by a distinguished jury of Dr Usha Bande, Ms Namita Lal, Dr Ashutosh Kumar, Sh Guptestwar Upadhaya, Dr Mrinal Chatterjee and Ms Kavita Jhala. Offline sessions will be conducted for the winners from Shimla in the coming weeks. Team Keekli will work closely with the winners to edit the stories. This contest aims at not only publishing children but also introducing them to the various aspects of story writing and enhancing their knowledge of the craft.
The stories will finally be published in an anthology, slated for a November-December release. We are also thankful to all our supporters. The event is powered by Management of Blue Bells School, Dhalli, and our media partner HimachalTonite!
