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Chrysalis

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Tanvi Nagar
Delhi Public School, Gurugram, Haryana

I sat in a dimly lit room and began to flip the dusty journal’s pages, 
‘My life’- the first page said- ‘Every detail in this journal I have narrated’
My grandmother’s words, her handwriting preserved perfectly through time,
“This journal begins on 18th September 1800, it will end with the end of my life,
They call me a warrior, they call me a fighter-mother, lover, daughter too,
I have been all of them, not a single day of my life has been rued, 
When I came into this world, they labelled me as a housewife-nothing more,
A slave-born to live and die inside four walls- “What more is a girl even worthy for?”
“You must die with your husband, he’ll live with you for seven lives,” mother said, 
(He’s twenty-seven years elder to me-he’s on his death bed)
(How can I die before I have begun to achieve my dreams-Yes! I have dreams too,
How can I jump into a fire for him-I will not, mother dear, I will not do this for you)?

They told me to marry him like my mother did when I was barely nine, 
To sacrifice my body, my mind- devote myself to their service-for my lifetime, 
I was loaded with a cart full of riches, my value calculated in bills and money, 
Father- “He will treat you well, dear- we have given him whatever he wanted as dowry”
While he read the Gita, he commanded- “Lady, go get me some hot tea.”
I took the book from the table, while he slept-the letters like designs looking quirky, 
That’s how I learnt to read the Holy books, pen down biographies and write, 
That’s how I went on to lead India’s freedom struggle-studying under the night light.”

A tear flowed down my cheek, I snapped back into my reality, 
To a world where there are thousands of women-no longer oppressed with brutality,
A world where there has been progress, there have been massive leaps and bounds, 
Today women are astronauts-reaching the stars and clouds, rising above the ground. 
Today girls attend school, girls know of their rights, girls are having travelled miles,
Today girls know that they needn’t be clad in red sarees- they are beautiful when they smile.
Today girls can go to temples, churches, mosques- follow their heart’s calls, 
Girls are overcoming barriers, crossing obstacles and breaking suffocating walls. 
In my diary, I began to write- ‘My life’-each and every detail I described, 
“I was born in 2000-welcomed as not a ‘boy’ or ‘girl’-but simply a child,

I went to school with my brother, went to college too, 
They said-be a doctor, an astronaut, lawyer- do whatever you want to pursue
The era has changed, the world is slowly turning into a paradise, 
Female foeticide has reduced, people have begun to value the girl child’s life, 
Women can step out of their house safely after the so-called ‘curfew’, 
They can all blossom like flowers whose petals are coated with fresh dew,
That’s how the era has metamorphosed-like a caterpillar and butterfly, 
To the next generation reading this diary-
Make the world a finer place, never lose the spirit to try and try.”

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A Letter to Thee

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Stuti Manda

From the women of the past, 
To the women of the future. 
We write to thee, 
As a note for you to heed. 
You must have heard the stories of princesses, 
Being rescued by their princes
Though it is of utmost importance that you know, 
That you don’t need to sit around waiting to be saved. 
You must have heard the stories of great women,
Who didn’t bend to the rules of society and demanded equality. 
But do not feel dejected, 
You, too, will do great things in your life. 
You, too, will face obstacles, 
But you, too, will overcome them, proving so many people wrong. 
Even if you stay home for your family, 
You, too, are doing a great deed. 
You now have to make sure, 
That a woman achieving anything is a norm. 
From the women of the past, 
to the women of the future.

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Poems

‘India-Ireland Poetry Fest’ Winners Announced

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Winners of the India-Ireland Poetry Fest on ‘Care, Courage and Commitment’ is finally announced.

Big shoutout to all the winners, for writing euphonious and expressive poems. It was completely a literary treat to read all the varied formats, ranging from allegory, elegy, limerick, ode, and so on.

We are grateful to our chief jury, Prof. (Dr) Prasannanshu, Professor of English, National Law University New Delhi; Founding President, Delhi Poetry Circle & Founder, P3 Poetry Group for his valuable review and feedback.

The best-juried poems will be published in an e-book. Date for Virtual Book Launch and Winners’ Felicitation to be announced by August-end.

Ireland

1.Emma CooperGalway, Dublin
2..Kathy MillerGalway, Dublin

India

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1.Aaryaman Sharma    Manipal Institute of Technology Manipal, Udupi, Karnataka
2.Aaryavarta Mishra  Ryan International School, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi
3.Aastha Thakkar Ramnarain Ruia Autonomous College, Matunga Mumbai, Maharashtra
4.Abhipreetha SubramanyamSaratha Institutions Erode, Tamil Nadu
5.Abhisek MallickNIT Raipur Raipur, Chhattisgarh
6.Abraham Naveen RajTNational Engineering College Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu
7.Aditi GaikwadSt. Xaviers College, Mumbai Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra
8.Ahana RoyMaharishi Vidya Mandir Guwahati, Assam
9.Akshara AiyarDelhi Public School, Sector 45 Gurgaon, Haryana
10.Ananya Mehrotra  Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics Pune, Maharashtra
11.Anish ChakrabortyUniversity of Calcutta Barrackpore, West Bengal
12.Ansh YadavSeth Anandram Jaipuria School, Lucknow Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
13.Anusha MahajanBenares Hindu University Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
14.Anushka LekharuDon Bosco High School Lichubari Jorhat, Assam  
15.Anushka PashamManipal Institute of Technology Hyderabad, Telangana
16.Aravya AgarwalInstitute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh
17.Arun SasikumarBhartiya Vidhya Bhavan School Irinjalakuda, Kerala
18.Ashutosh VasisthIndian Institute of Technology- Delhi
19.Astha VarshneyIndira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women Sahibabad, Uttar Pradesh
20.Ayush Kumar LodhaThe Bhawanipur Education Society College Kolkata, West Bengal
21.Chaandneeka ChoudhuryNPS International School Guwahati, Assam
22.Chandrima GhoshSwami Vivekananda Academy for Educational Excellence Burdwan, West Bengal
23.Chitvan GargDelhi Public School Ghaziabad, Meerut Road Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh
24.Darakshah SohailShri Shikshayatan College Kolkata, West Bengal
25.Dhivya SSri Manakula Vinayagar Engineering College Puducherry, Tamil Nadu
26.Gargi  Delhi Public School, New Delhi
27.Garima Raghuwanshi  Symbiosis Law School Noida, Uttar Pradesh
28.Harman SahotaShaurya International School Nawanshahr, Punjab
29.Hridhita AnjalBennett University Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh
30.Jaya KocharShri Ramdeo Baba College of Engineering and Management Nagpur, Maharashtra
31.Kamna PandeyGargi College, Delhi University, New Delhi
32.KashishThe Law School, University of Jammu Bari Brahmana, Jammu
33.Kavita SanwalSymbiosis International University Pune, Maharashtra
34.Khushi Sharma  Carmel Convent School Chandigarh
35.Kommendala Ravi TejaIndian Institute of Information Technology Sricity Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh
36.Kovid SharmaSeth Anandram Jaipuria School Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
37.Lourdes Priyadharshini S  Bannari Amman Institute of Technology
Tamil Nadu
38.Manasa Panidapu  Woxsen University Hyderabad, Telangana
39.Mangun SachdevaRyan International School Chandigarh
40Mihir BhattNew Delhi
41Mohammed SaifiHasanat High School
42.Navya DwivediSeth Anandram Jaipuria Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
43.Pallavi RathSilicon Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, Odisha
44.Pitamber KaushikIndira Gandhi National Open University, Bokaro Steel City, Odisha
45.Pranesh M VBannari Amman Institute of Technology Tirupur, Tamil Nadu
46.Priyansh JainArya Gurukul Kalyan, Thane, Maharashtra
47.Radhika SrivastavaBanaras Hindu University Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
48.Rana SiddharthBirla Institute of Technology Ranchi, Jharkhand
49.Rishabh Sharma  Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar University Agra, Uttar Pradesh
50.Ritabrata GhoshSt. Paul’s Cathedral Mission College Kolkata Siliguri, West Bengal
51.Rodali SaikiaSt. Joseph’s Convent HS School Tezpur, Assam
52.Rohan ShandilyaJaipur, Rajasthan
53.Rohit DasScottish Church College Kolkata, West Bengal
54.Roshni GoyalNMIMS Indore Indore, Madhya Pradesh
55.Saba HarunJamia Millia Islamia New Delhi
56.Sachetan DebrayElpro International School Pune, Maharashtra
57.Sahej VermaAryabhatta College, University of Delhi New Delhi
58.Santushti Tyagi  Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh Poetry Genre: Free Verse
59.Sarbanga MishraBangalore, Karnataka
60.Sharanya GuptaDelhi Public School Ghaziabad Vasundhara
61.Shivam KashyapBanaras Hindu University Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
62.Shruti GuptaShri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University, New Delhi
63.Sohan KararPanjab University Chandigarh Chandigarh
64.Somdatta MukherjeeNava Nalanda High School Howrah, West Bengal
65.Sowvik MisraTechno India Salt Lake Kolkata, West Bengal
66.Stuthi ShrishaVidya Mandir Ind. Pre University College Bangalore, Karnataka
67.Supreet KaurShaurya International School Punjab
68.Tanisha JainIndian Institute of Management Rohtak, Haryana
69.Tanisha KaushalSacred Heart Chandigarh Chandigarh
70.Tarini KapurModern School, Vasant Vihar New Delhi
71.V MaheyshVIT Chennai Tamil Nadu
72.V. Heymonth KumarBharathiar University Post Graduate Extension and Research Centre Erode, Tamil Nadu
73Vasu KambojChitkara University Karnal, Haryana
74.Yash YadavScholars Convent Nagpur, Maharashtra
75.Zohra KanthIslamic University of Science and Technology Srinagar, Kashmir

Please Note: Winners’ list is arranged in an alphabetical order

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Poems

India-Ireland Poetry Fest

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Takhte Writers & Publishers, organises the ‘India-Ireland Poetry Fest’ on the theme ‘Care, Courage and Commitment’.

For centuries, countless hours were nuanced to consider the context of coherent understanding of the 3 Cs, ‘Care, Courage and Commitment’ for noteworthy living. The ideals related to it we create, derive and share. So let’s construct to comprehend the 3Cs, and you can write on any one or all.

The festival aims at bringing together the poets and poetry of both countries on a single platform to express in unique compositions.

The fest is open to children and youth (aged 11-24) from India and Ireland. It is a month-long activity from May 10, 2022, until June 9, 2022. We are honoured to have the good wishes from His Excellency Shri Akhilesh Mishra, Indian Ambassador to Ireland and also he has graciously agreed to be the Chief Guest of the virtual book launch / valedictory event (Date to be announced).

Best juried poems will be published in an e-book (with ISBN), and an E-Certificate of Achievement will be awarded to the winners. Post book launch, an e-Certificate of participation for ones who could not make it to the e-book.

You are welcome to write and submit the poems using the Google Form https://forms.gle/qWKuHwWzuNQnBm1c9

Make sure your poem is in English, original, never published and within the limit of 500 words. It could be any poetry genre (allegory, elegy, ekphrasis, fable, lyric, hymn, ode, paean, parody and so on) under the above theme. Please note participation is free.

For any queries, write to takhtevov@gmail.com, #91 9311845524

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