Parental demands and a nation’s space adventures were the inspirations behind the latest short stories to win our popular monthly GDNLife social media contests.
Lucky Lakshmy Sharma, fondly known to her friends and fans of her writing as Maya, picked up the BD25 adult category prize for a second time.
Her latest entry The fragrance of love impressed judge Rohini Sunderam from Bahrain Writers Circle who said: “It’s a sweet story of family life and how someone can save what could otherwise be a lost opportunity.” (To read Mayas entry CLICK HERE)
Maya, an Indian by birth, describes Bahrain as her ‘second home’ having lived in the kingdom for 20 years.
Her husband is a chartered accountant and she is ‘blessed’ with two ‘beautiful and caring daughters’. The family lives in Salihiya, close to the Salmaniya junction.
“This is my second win,” Maya said. “I won for the first time back in July 2022 and have been submitting stories ever since then.
“This win reiterates to me that my ‘writing mojo’ is intact! The churning process in my realisation as a parent was a trigger for the story.”
Like most of the Indian expatriate population around the world, the nation’s space mission successes have been a source of great excitement, none more so than with children who have been following every twist and turn.
Take talented 10-year-old Arohi Jani, for example. The New Millennium School Bahrain [NMS] student decided to put a spin of her own of the adventure with her short story entry about Chandrayaan-3. (To read Arohis entry CLICK HERE)
It was the third mission in the Chandrayaan programme, part of a series of lunar-exploration missions developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
“I have a passion for writing and my school notified us about this competition and that it was being organised by the GDN, one of the kingdom’s most reputed newspapers.
“It was an honour to participate,” she told the GDN. “The great achievement by the ISRO inspired me to write my story.”
Arohi lives with her parents, IT consulting & project manager Siddharth and Roshni Jani, in Juffair, and she has won a pair of Cineco movie tickets.
“What a wonderful imagination you have Arohi!” said judge Chris Fenton, head teacher of the British Primary Department at Al Noor International School. “I was transfixed by this adventure story and creative language. Very well done!”
India’s Vikram lander touched down near the south pole of the moon on August 23, successfully completing one of its main objectives of soft landing on the lunar surface.
You could be a winner too! Join the many keen writers of all ages who have the chance to publish their work on Bahrain’s popular social media platform for a monthly and annual prize.
Due to the contest’s growing popularity, there is now a special exclusive Short Story section on www.gdnlife.com for visitors to enjoy.
In March next year, our panel of judges will decide on who should walk away with the annual GDNLife Short Story of the Year prize plaques in both categories. We will also celebrate the winner of the GDNLife People’s Choice Award – the short story with the most views and likes.
October entries would be welcomed, so get writing up to 800 words today! Register, choose an image, create a title, paste and copy your words in text – and submit to share your work on www.gdnlife.com – clearly stating Adult or U18 entry.
managingeditor@gdnmedia.bh
