Construction firm manager Sajid Khan had never imagined in his wildest dreams that a member of his family would be an author some day.
Construction firm manager Sajid Khan had never imagined in his wildest dreams that a member of his family would be an author some day. As his phone rang a few days ago, with an unknown caller announcing that a short story written by his daughter, Insha (8), was to be published in a book of short stories by children, his joy knew no bounds.
"I couldn't believe it when the phone call came, no one in my extended family has ever written anything that has been published. Until then, I had seen my daughter read newspapers, magazines and was amazed at how such a young girl could do so. I never even knew she had the talent," said Khan.
Some parents like Mahesh and Madhuri Kulkarni, whose son Shreyas has also contributed a story, said they always knew about his talent and were looking for opportunities to promote it. "He has written before, though it hasn't yet been published, and we are thrilled his talent is being recognised," said software professional, Mahesh.
On Saturday, a book, Diary Of A Puneri Kid, an anthology of 60 short stories by children, will be released at Nehru Memorial Hall. The stories have been selected from more than 2,000 entries.
The compilation of this book began with a story writing contest in city schools held in October by online book library, www.tenderleaves.com. "Through the competition we wanted to prove that children are still interested in reading and writing, and also to provide a channel for ideas in their minds. Twenty best stories in the 5-8 year, 9-10 year and 11-12 year groups were selected," said BV Harish Kumar, chief executive officer of Tender Leaves Books, who quit his software job for the passion of reading.
His wife and business partner, Sirisha, explained that all stories have been scanned and are published unedited.
This helps to retain the innocence and ingenuity of the young writers. Tender Leaves has also organised a quiz, to be hosted by J Ramanand, the youngest BBC Mastermind India winner.
While scores of parents and children are excited and can't wait to attend the event, some parents like Rashmi Singh have decided to keep the event a surprise for their kid. "She is six-and-half years old and I decided to take her to the event as a surprise. I don't even know if she would realise the importance of the event. Maybe she'll be happy to see her story in the book. So I don't want to burden her with expectations," she said.
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