Ruskin 'bonds' with young authors

Mumbai: Noted author Ruskin Bond has left the cool climate of Mussoorie to come down to Mumbai to encourage young writing talent in this country.

Bond was one of the jury members at the finals of the Classmate Young Author Contest.

And it was no child's play as 1,20,000 students in the age groups of 14 to 17, spread across 4000 schools and 15 cities took part in the contest.

However, only three girls managed to reach the final round.

Bond urged schools to encourage reading habits among the student community in order to improve their writing and communication skills.

The national jury panel also included authors Nandita Puri, Neeru Nanda, Alpana Chaudhary and Bakthiar Dadabhoy.

"It was a good mix of students. I always look for stories that hold a reader's attention and are engaging," Bond said.

Meanwhile, jury member Nandita Puri said, "The overall standard of English has fallen."

After tasting fresh dollops of success, the young authors had some tips for budding writers.

"It is the way you work on your writing that matters at the end. Also what you read makes a huge impact on your writing," winner of the contest, Shreya Maheshwari said.

"I think the only tip I could give to budding authors is to be true to oneself," first runner-up of the contest, Megha Bagaria said.

"One should just write what comes to one’s mind," second runner-up, Shreya Devnath said.

And why is it that only girls made it to the finals?

"The boys were all busy playing or watching cricket during the last month or two," Bond said.

So all the boys who were too busy to hone their writing skills, here's what they missed - a seven-day literary tour to London covering historic places like Oxford, Cambridge, and Stratford. And Rupa & Co will publish the stories of the young authors.

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