Writing comes from reading, and reading is the finest teacher of how to write. You should write because you love the mystery of the stories and sentences and the creation of different words on a page.
On the last day of Shimla Book Fair, organized by National Book Trust & the Department of Language & Culture, Himachal Pradesh, Keekli Charitable Trust organised a Creative Writing Workshop with resource persons Dr Vidyanidhi Chhabra and Ms Minakshi Chaudhry, who walked the children through a small creative journey of the life of words and books. Along with that we had the NBT Hindi Editor Dr Lalit Kishore Mandora, Vandana Bhagra, President of the Trust and Ritanjali Hastir, Media Partner HimachalTonite, and the participating students were from Monal Public School, Dayanand Public School, Himalayan Public School, GGSSS Portmore School, Ivy International School and members of the Keekli Book Club.
Each resource person highlighted on different aspects of writing a short story. While Dr Chhabra spoke about why to write and what type of topics to choose to write, Ms Chaudhry was vocal about how to bring the story alive – by adding characters, a theme or a plot, the setting as well as by having keen sense of observation. All these when put together help in creating a beautiful story.
Today’s session was divided into two parts. The first covered few very interesting narratives by the resource persons about creative writing, about how to write and what to write; where to begin and how to end, while in the second part, children were given few key words that were to be incorporated in their story. Each school team beautifully attempted to write a short story within a span of 15 minutes and then they narrated each story. (CLICK TO SEE ALL VIDEOS). While being appreciative, the mentors shared their feedback with the children about what was missing or how the story could have been written differently to add that mystique.
The participating students were from Himalayan Public School — Suryakant Dogra; Balkishan Sharma; Sakshi Thakur; Yashika Krishan; Varun Sharma; Akshita Verma; Lakshay Thakur; Pushpender Harnot; Manvi Das; Diksha Kumari; Ivy International School — Antara Thakur; Samarjit Rathore; Suhana Sharma; Aarshiya Sawant; Raunav Thakur; Veerajit Mehta; Arnav Chatra; Rayarth Mehta; Raghav Bhardwaj; Anirudh Kashyap; GGSSS Portmore School – Simran; Kashish; Payal; Kavyansh; Divanshi; Yanshita; Jagritika; Kritika; Hetal ; Ishika; Dayanand Public School — Advika Sharma; Ananya Sharma; Aditi Sharma; Akshra Thapa; Avni Sharma; Rudransh; Kian; Dhruvansh Thakur; Vaishnavi Rathore; Anushka Thakur; Monal Public School – Serish; Adeeba; Ishita; Ananya; Ishant; Shivansh; Akhil; Dixit; and Keekli Book Club member – Baani Simar, Adita, Veda and Varahi.
The morning ended on an observational note that to write children should read more and for that to happen, both parents and teachers should be actively involved in helping them reach this point.
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Resource Persons
An MPhil and a PhD from JNU, Dr Vidyanidhi Chhabra found roots in Himachal as she spent her formative years in Dist Shimla as a teacher. She started her career as a journalist and has translated literary classics of Emile Zola, Paul Carus, Pushkin, Gorky, and many Indian authors. She has conceptualized, collected and edited 11 volumes of Kaante ki Baat by Rajendra Yadav as well as published research papers, book reviews, and articles in leading journals. Her latest book, Badla Mausam Badle Hum / Your Seasons My Season was released on 5th June, on World Environment Day, highlighting the importance of environment and at the same time leaving the readers with important questions to ponder upon. Currently, living a peaceful life in Shimla, she engages as a critic and mentors young readers.
Ms Minakshi Chaudhry has written 23 books including the bestsellers Ghost Stories of Shimla Hills, More Ghost Stories of Shimla Hills and Love Stories of Shimla Hills . She has written several books on Himachal as a destination including Exploring Pangi Himalaya: A World Beyond Civilization; A Guide to Trekking in Himachal: 65 Treks and over 100 Destinations; Destination Himachal: Over 132 Off beat and 12 Popular Getaways and Coffee Table books on Kullu Valley and Solan Hills. Her critically acclaimed books include Sunshine – My Encounter with Cancer and A World Within- A remarkable story of coping with a parent’s dementia. She lives in Himachal Pradesh with her husband. She is a keen observer of people, cultures, life styles and is fond of trekking and travelling. Ms Chaudhry is also the founder trustee of Swarn Educational Welfare and Awareness (SEWA) Trust and is a socially active citizen and a motivational speaker.
Dr Lalit Kishor Mandora is a Hindi Editor with the National Book Trust and has had a long relationship with both words and books. He has authored several books, has written poems and has even translated poems in regional languages such as Kannada, Odiya, Punjabi, Gujarati, Telugu to name a few. His noted works include the famous Pandey ji series; Digital India ke व्यंग्य (Vayangaya); Hum Chandan Tum Paani; Facebook ke Kabir to name a few. He is also the recipient of the Ravindranath Tyagi Yuva Samman as well as two time winner as Best Poet awarded by Sahitya Akademi.
