So it’s time to emerge
And spread my wings to fly
The expressions that I once submerged
Take me through the sky
– excerpt from the winning poem, I Am, by winner Aditi V (age 15)
And spread my wings to fly
The expressions that I once submerged
Take me through the sky
– excerpt from the winning poem, I Am, by winner Aditi V (age 15)
The third
book in the Mayil series, This is me, Mayil, is named after a poem Mayil
writes. Authors Niveditha Subramanian and Sowmya Rajendran explore a teenager’s
emerging sense of identity in a world of 'selifiesteem' and soft focus filters.
Tulika's growing list of Teens&Tweens books (www.tulikateensandtweens.com)also
made us want to find out what 'Me' means for children today. Little did we know
how surprised we were going to be with the answers!
As the poems
flowed in, there was one recurring theme – I am unique. No compromise is a promising
beginning for the next generation of poets! The entries also covered a wide
range of styles. There were lists and likes. Others that were immensely
rappable and some that made us smile.
I like to play games
But not learning scientific names
– Harshit Gupta (age 11)
– Harshit Gupta (age 11)
The girl who can turn and twist like rubber
This is me,
The girl who can do all sorts of drama
This is me.
–
Meerashri (age 11)
Most gave us hope, whether it was for a better,
greener world or one where reading is still valued. Like our other winner all
the way from Singapore.
I am from books
Books with pages
Caressing a world
Far greater
Than the one we live in
–
Navya Singh (age 14), winner
Authors Niveditha Subramaniam and Sowmya Rajendran at the event. |
Don’t know what I want to tell myself,
Am I the boss or Santa’s elf?
My mind is filled with a lot of confusion,
A lot of options, a lot of illusions,
Am I being the person the world wants me to be,
No dammit
I’m not a project
I’m ‘ME’.
–
Jiya Francis (age 11), special mention
...and now that this girl
is free
I’ll yell it from the
rooftops
that this is who
I’m supposed to be
no matter what I look like
no matter what my gender is
no matter who I like
no matter what
because this
this mess of frizzy hair
this constellation of acne
upon my cheeks
this short, chubby kid
this is me
–
Janani Balaji (age 13), winner
Then there were ones that made us sit up and notice
the bold self awareness that was almost painful. At an age when most kids do
not understand or even notice bullying, body shaming or gender!
Hello, anybody there?
It's me, just me over here,
I may look like a big bully to you,
But no, I am always kind at heart.
–
Shravanthika Karthik (age 10)
The event at the Tulika bookstore, featuring our local participants, saw
14 performances. The shortlisted poets from outside Chennai sent in video and audio
performances that made us wish we had some kind of instantaneous travel portal.
We would love to have seen them live!
A special shout out to the parents who
brought the kids to the store and sent us their lovingly taken video
performances. You are doing it right!
Want to dive into the Mehyl zone?
Grab your copy of series, starting from Mayil Will Not Be Quiet! here.
***
It is a great post.
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