Tuesday, October 5, 2021

Kodaikanal Gandhi Prize 2021: The Awards Ceremony



The awards ceremony for the Kodaikanal Gandhi Prize 2021, took place in Kodaikanal on October 2. 

Radha Kumar, the founder and primary donor of the prize set the context by speaking about why she initiated the prize. We, at Out of Print, had had the privilege of engaging with her in a conversation after the announcement of the first awards in 2019 where she explained why the prize was aimed at students: 

‘We routinely celebrate Gandhi but we do not read him or practise his ideas and methods. So, the impromptu group that we formed for the prize decided that we would aim at the 10+2 students with the requirement that their entries show their reading and absorption of Gandhi's philosophy, whether they agree with it or not.’

This year’s questions allowed the students to analyse Gandhi and present arguments to show what they felt about the relevance of his philosophy today.

Ramachandra Guha gave an animated talk on the evolution Gandhi’s thinking and how his attitude to race, caste and gender developed over time. 

I was honoured to be able to announce the prize winners, whose works were variously thoughtful, well-researched, deeply felt, and all which were impressive.

Rajni George from the Kodai Chronicle closed the session by thanking the many people who had helped manage the awards.

Before listing the prize winners, I quote from the poem ‘A Mark of Resistance’ by Adrienne Rich, Poetry, August 1957, that I presented at the ceremony. To me it evoked the point that Radha made when the prize was first initiated. After attempting to interest numerous individuals and institutions in reviving the relevance of Gandhi without success she said, ‘Finally, I felt it was important to take an individual initiative, however small it might be, and in keeping with Gandhi's spirit, it had to start at home.’

In Rich's poem, she speaks of a cairn, a pile of stones that is used as a marker or a landmark:

                    A pile of stones: an assertion
                    that this piece of country matters
                    for large and simple reasons.
                    A mark of resistance, a sign.


The prize winners are listed below. The essays and other submissions will be published shortly.

THE PRIZE WINNERS:

First prize (shared): 

Jahnavi Desai, Fravashi International Academy, Nashik

Nikhil Joseph, Hebron School, Ooty


Creative Expression prize Awarded by Out of Print Journal

Hania Rashid, Delhi Public School Srinagar, Srinagar


Second prize (shared)

Sara Daniel, Delhi Public School Noida, Noida

Noor Sabharwal, Neev Academy, Bangalore


Third prize (shared)

Annapoorani Pandian, The Gandhigram Rural Institute, Dindigul District

Deeksha Pasupulati, The Kodaikanal International School, Kodaikanal


First prize (Tamil)

Abitha A, The RC Higher Secondary School, Trichy


Second prize (Tamil)

Shasswatha, Fairlands A Foundation School, Puduppatti, Theni District

 

Honorable Mentions

Jasmine Beth Kurian, Hebron School, Ooty

Samuael Earnest Kantharaj, The Kodaikanal International School, Kodaikanal

Pranvi Khare, Neev Academy, Bangalore

Shatakshee Kar, Delhi Public School Noida

Shourya Sharma, Delhi Public School Noida

Shasswatha, Fairlands A Foundation School, 




Author: Dr. Indira Chandrasekhar, founder and principal editor of the literary journal Out of Print.



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