At the beginning of March this
year, when we were still in sixth grade, my teacher sent us an email. I didn’t
think much of it at the time. It was a link to Pearson’s (the publishing
company) website, informing us about and advertising one of their competitions.
Pearson wanted us to submit a short story, and if selected, it would be
published in a new book: MyPedia Reader. It was to be written “For children, by
children.”
A day or two after Miss sent us
the email, she asked me, personally, to enter a story. I seriously doubted that
anything I submitted would even be acknowledged, so just re-edited and
submitted a story I had written in fifth grade. It was about an African-American
girl who made candy and earned billions of dollars at the age of nine. The main
intention of the story was to show people that no one but themselves can set
their own limits.
So, I submitted the story and,
naturally, forgot about the competition. One day, in the middle of summer
break, I received an email saying the results for the competition were out. I
clicked the link, poorly masking my hope with boredom. I scrolled through the
webpage and read my name. I still didn’t believe my story was getting
published, not until I got a congratulations mail from Pearson.
After that, there was a lot of
waiting. For legal work to be completed, for event venues to be finalized,
there seemed to be an endless list. Finally, the event organization group
informed us that there would be a Storytelling workshop on the 27 of November
2017, and a book launch the next day.
At the workshop, we learnt how to
tell a story not only through words, but through pictures and paintings. We
learnt some of an ancient Indian art forms, then applied our knowledge to
illustrate (as an activity) our stories with that particular art form. The book
launch was hours on end of talking, answering audience questions, answering
media questions during a panel discussion, and so much more. We each (the other
winners present, too) received a certificate, a check (money ), and a free
copy of the book.
To reflect, I am grateful beyond
words for this experience, and thank everyone who made it possible.
