Hamsa Madhira is only 11 years old but she is already a known name in the writing world. At a recent short story writing competition organised by the British Council for the Commonwealth countries, Hamsa’s essay has won the third prize from over 52 entries across the world.
A student of Chirec International School, she admits, “Writing was never my first love, but when I heard the topic of the short story competition, I knew I had something to write.” A lover of classical music and piano, Hamsa got hooked onto the topic — Belonging. Everyone has their own sense of the word and Hamsa had a beautiful tale to tell. “I wrote a tragic story of a girl who was sad to relocate to Hyderabad from Chennai. She used to regularly fight with her mother about it and complained why her elder sister can stay back in Chennai with her father and enjoy, whereas she had to move to Hyderabad and get bored. She even accused them of partiality. But later when she learns that her sister has cancer and subsequently succumbs to it, she realises the true sense of belonging. Belonging is not about the place you live in, but about the people who surround you,” she explains.
Capturing the true essence of the theme, Hamsa excelled at the competition that was open to students aged seven to 14, who wanted to voice their thoughts to the world through writing and illustration. “I have inherited my creative genes from my father and grandmother and that has helped me pen down the winning story. My father is good with elocution and my grandmother was a novelist,” she shares.
