While 2020 could have easily been written off as a wasted year, many of us made the most of being “stuck at home”. 2020 gave children the opportunity to build a better rapport with their parents and siblings. It taught them to make do with what they had instead of constantly needing or demanding new things, and some even used the time at home to learn a new skill.
There is no doubt that being homebound and away from school for the better part of the year affected children, and this was evident in the entries we received for RBSA 2020-21. As we went through thousands of artworks, poems and stories, we saw that many focussed on nature, the environment, the COVID situation and children’s relationship with their grandparents, parents and siblings.
The entries also reflected that over the last year, books have become children’s new best friends and kids’ writing skills and language show clear influences from their favourite authors. As writing classes were out of the schedule, the writing that was sent in was genuine, topics were approached with a refreshing difference and there was more originality rather than clones of similar-sounding stories and rhyming poems. It was particularly encouraging to see the works sent in by children in Group C and D—the poetry, writing and artworks had such depth!
This year, we were also very excited to see such a large number of participants from across not just India, but the globe, despite the challenges thrown up by the pandemic. For this, as a special prize, we are gifting all our participants a free 2-month digital subscription to RobinAge! The details of this will be sent via e-mail. But RBSA is a competition and winners have to be chosen. We introduce you to the winning entries of RobinAge Bright Sparks Awards 2020-21.
POETRY: JUDGED BY SANTHINI GOVINDAN
Group A: Class 1 & 2
1st Prize: Aarunika Dass, Class 1, Sushila Birla Girls School, Kolkata
2nd Prize: Bhumi Sharma, Class 2, BVB Vidyashram, Jaipur
3rd Prize: Ishaanvi Udeck, Class 2, Army Public School, Bhatinda Cantonment, Punjab
Group B: Class 3 to 5
1st Prize: Maheka Kedia, Class 4, Utpal Shanghvi Global School, Mumbai
2nd Prize: Apoorva, Class 5, Delhi Public School, Nacharam, Hyderabad
3rd Prize: Myra Basu, Class 3, Sushila Birla Girls School, Kolkata
Group C: Class 6 to 8
1st Prize: Merzina Irani, Class 6, The JB Vachha High School, Dadar, Mumbai
2nd Prize: Veruschka Pandey, Class 6, The International School Bangalore, Bengaluru
3rd Prize: Anvi Khattar, Class 6, Bombay Scottish School, Mahim, Mumbai
Group D: Class 9 and 10
1st Prize: Laiba Majeed, Class 10, Delhi Public School, Mathura Road, New Delhi
2nd Prize: Rashi Rajeev, Class 9, Notre Dame Academy, Patna
3rd Prize: Yashi Goswami, Class 10, Delhi Public School, Meerut Road, Ghaziabad
ARTWORK: JUDGED BY ARZAN KHAMBATTA
Group A: Class 1 & 2
1st Prize: Kahanshwa, Class 1, SBOA School & Junior College, Anna Nagar, Chennai
2nd Prize: Divyadharshini, Class 2, Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Chennai
3rd Prize: Divvyanshi Gupta, Class 1, Delhi Public School, Miyapur, Hyderabad
Group B: Class 3 to 5
1st Prize: Thiyakshwa, Class 4, SBOA School & Junior College, Chennai
2nd Prize: Vaibhav Sriram, Class 4, DAV Public School, Sreshtha Vihar, Delhi
3rd Prize: Samana K, Class 4, Jnanodaya School, Bengaluru
Group C: Class 6 to 8
1st Prize: Rahul Ramesh, Class 6, Bombay Scottish School, Powai, Mumbai
2nd Prize: Shrestha Sharma, Class 6, The Orbis School, Keshav Nagar, Pune
3rd Prize: Pranshu Parsana, Class 6, TGES Wadi, Rajkot
Group D: Class 9 and 10
1st Prize: Dev Mehta, Class 9, Bombay International School, Mumbai
2nd Prize: Shradhul Sudhir Rao, Class 9, St Xavier’s Boys Academy, Churchgate, Mumbai
3rd Prize: Harsh Dutta, Class 9, South Point Public School, Bundu, Ranchi
FICTION STORY: JUDGED BY CHERRY DIVECHA-SHETHIA
Group A: Class 1 & 2
1st Prize: Uthara Menon, Class 2, St Helena’s School, Pune
2nd Prize: Aarna Gorani, Class 1, Chatrabhuj Narsee School, Mumbai
3rd Prize: Aadikrishnan V Bharat, Class 1, Bhavan’s Adarsha Vidyalaya, Kakkanad, Kochi
Group B: Class 3 to 5
1st Prize: Vizzmaya Jalal, Class 4, St Francis ICSE School, Mumbai
2nd Prize: Athiya Fathima, Class 5, Al Qamar Academy, Chennai
3rd Prize: Kavyaan Bindlish, Class 4, Modern Vidya Niketan, Faridabad
Group C: Class 6 to 8
1st Prize: Tarini Arora, Class 7, Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Mumbai
2nd Prize: Laksha Khanna, Class 8, Sushila Birla Girls School, Kolkata
3rd Prize: Niyati, Class 7, Dyal Singh Public School, Karnal, Haryana
Group D: Class 9 and 10
1st Prize: Riya Gupta, Class 10, Hans Raj Model School, Punjabi Bagh, New Delhi
2nd Prize: Simer Sachdeva, Class 9, The Ardee School, Gurugram
3rd Prize: Sarah Lohamor, Class 9, The Ardee School, Gurugram
WINNING SCHOOLS
1st Prize: Sushila Birla Girls School, Kolkata
2nd Prize: Al Qamar Academy, Chennai
3rd Prize: Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Mumbai
Congratulations to all the participants and winners for a job well done!
