The Kodaikanal Gandhi Prize 2022 - Radha Kumar

The Kodaikanal Gandhi Prize 2022

Radha Kumar

2022 was the third year of the Kodaikanal Gandhi Prize, a competition for schoolchildren in classes 9 to 12. Founded by myself and members of the Kodaikanal Fellowship Library in 2019, the prize aimed to revive knowledge about and interest in Gandhi’s political ethos and action, at a time when both appeared particularly salient. 

This third edition of the prize was hosted by the Khushwant Singh Literary Festival’s Joy of Learning program. Beginning with participation from around a dozen schools in 2019, the prize attracted the participation of 52 schools in 2022, a majority of which belonged to the Delhi Public School family. I believe I speak for all the judges – Indira Chandrasekhar of the literary journal Out of Print, a co-sponsor of the prize, writer and analyst Bernard Imhasly, Ramin Jahanbegloo, Gandhian philosopher and head of the Jindal university’s Gandhi Studies Centre, journalist and founder of the KSLF, Rahul Singh, and myself – when I say that we were delighted to find that so many of our young believed in the Indian enlightenment values that lay at the core of the independence movement and the constitution of the republic. Their views gave us hope when so many of our citizens appeared to have succumbed to chauvinism, cynicism or falsehood.

As one of two judges that have been constant through the three iterations of the prize, I was interested to find that this year, a large number of entries focused on exclusion and social discrimination, especially against scheduled tribes. The other major theme of entries was individual rights, especially of women. By comparison, the 2021 entries focused on citizenship and farmers’ rights, two key social movements that dominated 2020, along with handling of the Covid-19 pandemic that swept India and the world. The 2020 entries, in contrast to 2021 and 2022, focused on local aspirations and inequities; the bulk of participating schools that year were in Tamil Nadu. 

Our 2022 prize winners are mostly writers, both essayists and story tellers, though several multimedia presentations received honourable mentions. As in previous years, the judges found it very difficult to judge between our top twenty entries. Once again, we had to split the prizes to give two firsts, two seconds, two thirds, and two prizes for creative expression, along with four honourable mentions. 

One of the gifts of judging the prize is the insights entries offer into the hearts and minds of a few hundred of India’s young. Over the past three years, I have been passionately moved and often forced to step back and think by ideas that have leapt off the page, or screen, as I went through entries. In 2020, I was impressed by the raw statement of many of the entries. My overwhelming 2022 impression is one of grace. Not only our winners, but the enormous majority of entries, made their points gently while not compromising. Taken together, they offered a reflection of our times that is both hopeful and tempered with doubt or sorrow. I hope that readers will find the linked prize-winning entries as rich a food for thought as I did.

THE KODAIKANAL GANDHI PRIZE

The Kodaikanal Gandhi prize was initiated and founded in 2019, the year of Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary, by Radha Kumar, who is its principal donor. It's partners have included, the Gandhi Peace Foundation, the Kodaikanal Fellowship Library, the Kodai Chronicle and the literary journal Out of Print. In 2022, the Khushwant Singh Literature Festival joins hands with the organisers. 

The prize is open to students aged sixteen to eighteen, although submissions from younger applicants are also considered. 

Prizewinning entries are published in the Out of Print Blog. 

Links to the annual announcements of winners are listed below.

2023

2022

2021 

2020

The Kodaikanal Gandhi Prize 2021 - The Prize Winners

The Kodaikanal Gandhi Prize 2021

Out of Print is honoured and delighted to be publishing the prize-winning entries of the Kodaikanal Gandhi Prize 2021. The published works include: 

• the shared first, second and third prizes in English

• the Creative Expression prize sponsored by Out of Print 

• the first and second prizes in Tamil

• the six honourable mentions

The prize winners, along with links to their prize-winning entries are listed at the end of this article. 

The Kodaikanal Gandhi prize was initiated and founded in 2019, the year of Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary, by Radha Kumar who is also the principal donor, and instituted jointly by the Gandhi Peace Foundation, the Kodaikanal Fellowship Library and the literary journal Out of Print. This year, the Kodai Chronicle joins hands with the organisers. The prize is open to students aged sixteen to eighteen, although submissions from younger applicants are also be considered. Students are asked to submit either a written or a multimedia presentation in English or Tamil in response to one of the following questions:

1. Gandhi viewed non-violence as an active form of resistance. Looking at contemporary injustices, does non-violence work. State your points with examples.

2. Gandhi labelled himself a ‘practical idealist’. What does that label mean to you? Describe another practical idealist you admire.

3. Gandhi once said, ‘Our salvation can only come through the farmer’. Does this idea hold through in India today? Why or why not?

4. Why did Gandhi consider cowardice and apathy even worse than violence? Do you agree with him? Why or why not?

5. Gandhi’s philosophy of truth in practice led to India’s motto, ‘Satyameva Jayate’ – ‘Truth alone triumphs’. What meaning does it have in an era of fake news? How would you restore this ideal in public opinion?

It was profoundly heartening that submissions came from a wide range of schools, urban and rural, elite and under privileged. In all, there were close to two hundred and fifty registrations from forty-six schools and eleven states over a hundred of which resulted in submissions. That more than one hundred students in their final years of high school reflected deeply on Gandhi and his relevance today is extremely encouraging. It suggests that a number of India’s millennials are indeed engaged in thinking about political issues and questions of injustice. 

A report on the awards ceremony that took place in Kodaikanal on October 2nd, Gandhi Jayanti, was featured in the Out of Print blog. Satish deSa, children’s editor of the Kodai Chronicle, and the Chronicle staff also wrote about the evening, featuring excerpts from the prize-winning works. The prize-winners, with links to their published entries, are listed below.

The Prize Winners with Links to their Published Entries:

First prize (shared): 

• Jahnavi Desai

        Fravashi International Academy, Nashik

•       Nikhil Joseph (withdrawn)

        Hebron School, Ooty

Creative Expression prize:

sponsored by Out of Print

• Hania Rashid

        Delhi Public School Srinagar

Second prize (shared):

• Sara Daniel

        Delhi Public School Noida

• Noor Sabharwal

        The Neev Academy, Bangalore

Third prize (shared):

• Annapoorani Pandiyan

        The Gandhigram Rural Institute, Dindigul District

• Deeksha Pasupulati

        The Kodaikanal International School

First prize (Tamil):

• Abitha A

        The RC Higher Secondary School, Trichy

Second prize (Tamil):

• Shasswatha

        Fairlands A Foundation School, Puduppatti, Theni District

 

Honourable Mentions:

• Jasmine Beth Kurian

        Hebron School, Ooty

• Samuael Earnest Kantharaj

        The Kodaikanal International School

• Pranvi Khare

        Neev Academy, Bangalore

• Shatakshee Kar

        The Delhi Public School Noida

• Shourya Sharma

        The Delhi Public School Noida

• Shashmitha J

        Fairlands A Foundation School, Puduppatti, Theni District

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.

Kodaikanal Gandhi Prize: The Awards

The Kodaikanal Gandhi Prize: The Awards

Out of Print was in Kodaikanal at the end of February to participate in the award ceremony for the first edition of the Kodaikanal Gandhi Prize. The ceremony took place at the Kodaikanal International School. What a privilege it was to be on their campus with its charming architecture and glorious old trees and meet the many school children who had sent in their work for the prize.

The prize, that was initiated by Radha Kumar and instituted jointly by the Gandhi Peace Foundation, the Kodaikanal Fellowship Library and Out of Print, was open to school children in grades 10, 11 and 12 who had to submit either a written or multimedia presentation in English or Tamil on one or more of the following themes:

 

·      Are Gandhi's thoughts and actions relevant today? If yes, in which ways?  If not, why not?

·      Gandhi said non-violence is a weapon of the strong. Many say it is a weapon of the weak. What do you think, and why?

·      Gandhi’s philosophy of truth in practice led to India's motto, Satyameva Jayate. What meaning does it have in an era of fake news?

The students were provided with selected readings from Gandhiji’s Hind Swaraj and The Story of My Experiments with Truth and encouraged to engage in their own research as well.

There were close to 200 registrations and approximately 115 submissions.

The first prize was secured by Ishita Pandey from the Kodaikanal International School for her essay ‘Gandhiji’s Philosophies in Today’s World’

Two second prizes were awarded. Mansur Ali Jurabi of Bhavan School received a prize for his multimedia presentation and B. Archana of St. Xavier’s School for her essay in Tamil.

Out of Print is privileged to have the opportunity to publish the prize winners in English on the Out of Print blog.

The Prize-winning Works:

First Prize: Ishita Pandey, ‘Gandhiji’s Philosophies in Today’s World’, essay

Second Prize: Mansur Ali Jurabi, The Mahathma, multimedia presentation

Interviews:

In late October 2019, Out of Print had the opportunity to ask Radha Kumar who initiated the prize a few questions about her motivation behind setting it up. Here is the link to that conversation.

The Hindu, Tamil edition announces the prizewinners

The Hindu, English edition announces the prizewinners

The Kodaikanal Gandhi Prize - A Conversation with Radha Kumar

The Kodaikanal Gandhi Prize

The Kodaikanal Gandhi Prize for high-school students was initiated by Radha Kumar, the journalist, writer, analyst, and author most recently, of Paradise at War: A Political History of Kashmir (1).

Out of Print is privileged to be part of the prize along with the KMU Library and the Gandhi Peace Foundation.

In early October 2019, when the prize was announced, Indira Chandrasekhar, founder and principal editor at Out of Print asked Radha a few questions on why she had felt the need to institute the prize. We held the interview to publish it with the announcement of the prize winners. Given all that has happened in the country and the world since late last year, it seems doubly relevant to review the inspiration and thinking that went into the prize.

Radha, this is such an important initiative. What made you think of instituting the Kodaikanal Gandhi Prize?

I have been feeling in dire need of Mahatma Gandhi for the past eight years, as violence, untruth and meanness of spirit have overtaken our polity. I knocked on many doors in the hopes that political and intellectual leaders might start a fresh Gandhian movement, but with no success.  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. Kodaikanal, where I now live, is still a pluralist town of Hindus, Muslims and Christians which stands apart from the religious chauvinism that we see in so many other parts of our country. What better place, then, to start thinking and talking about the relevance of Gandhi's views and actions today? Indeed, community groups immediately responded to my idea, and I am proud that it is being supported by the KMU Library. Ironically Gandhi has been rediscovered all over the world – even in war-torn Afghanistan – but in our country he has become a token for government to pay lip service to but not follow.

Why did you want to gear the prize at students of grades 10, 11 and 12?

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. In keeping with his inclusivity, entries can be either in English or Tamil and they can be either written or multimedia.

I know that you put considerable thought into the themes for the competition. They truly draw attention to Gandhi as a political, social and philosophical leader. Would you share some thoughts on the themes?

There are three themes, and we all in Kodaikanal felt that you had contributed the most important one, on truth.

Thank you for that, Radha. Like many of us, I feel Gandhi’s absolute commitment to the Truth is like a raft we must hold onto in a treacherous sea.

On the first theme, Gandhi's relevance today, I have referred to it above, but if I might elaborate, his many writings on communal violence and religious intolerance make clear that he would be anguished by their explosion across our country. I often feel ashamed that I am not in Jharkhand or UP, the most frequent sites of mob lynchings, sitting on hunger strike against them, because I believe the act will have an impact even in our vindictive times. Since August 5, I have been haunted by the thought of what Gandhi would do, surely a satyagraha to protest the deliberate subjugation and humiliation of an entire community, the Kashmiris.

On the second theme, our ruling party members and their supporters in the media routinely dismiss peace initiatives as a sign of weakness, even cowardice. As Gandhi showed in both word and deed, making peace not only demands a strong will and the courage to persist, it is a hallmark of just and compassionate leadership, central to our dharma and the vision of Ramrajya. At the current time, when an intolerant and forcible concept of Hinduism is spreading rapidly across our country, Gandhi's emphasis on the values, methods and behaviour of peacemaking is invaluable.

Tell us about the jury

The jury includes one member each from the sponsoring organisations – the Gandhi Peace Foundation, the Kodaikanal Fellowship – KMU Library, the journal Out of Print, at least one Tamil reader, possibly two, and myself. The Gandhi Peace Foundation has traditionally offered support and sanctuary to citizens combatting divisive conflict in our country, indeed during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi they were the base from which protection and relief work for Sikhs was carried out. The KMU Library is a public library run by a group of volunteers who are involved in a range of community activities, from a cooperative pottery to a women's tailoring collective to garbage collection, to mention but a few. Your journal sets a standard of inclusivity and will provide inestimable encouragement to young creators. I am proud and grateful to have these three institutions on board: with their help I believe this small initiative might gather strength and grow.

Members of the Gandhi family have shown support and encouragement for the Prize and have offered to remain associated with it, contributing their time and intellectual commitment going forward.

1. Paradise at War: A Political History of Kashmir by Radha Kumar, Aleph Book Company, 2018.