KARAIKAL: A clean tackle, a smart dribble, and at the target. It’s a goal!
Though a dream, V Vimalisha, an Class 11 student, is at it, and is not ready to relent to the pressures, as she continues to follow her football passion. She’s sure one day she will make it to the Indian women’s team.
Vimalisha’s dream is just one chapter in ‘Really Am I?’, a soon-to-be released book, featuring original poems, essays, short stories, slogans, dialogues and riddles, authored by the students of Government Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Thirunallar, under the guidance of their English teacher P Murugan.
Ask Vimalisha, she would say writing a short story has become a way to reflect on her past, present, and dreams for a future in football. “I’ve written my own story. I’m taking football coaching despite my family and friends telling me it’s a boys’ game. One day I’ll become a football star, just as I’ve written in my story,” she says.
The teachers at the school said the initiative is aimed at nurturing a reading and writing culture among rural students and help them see themselves as young authors.
Rather than being sold commercially, the book will be distributed to libraries and government schools across Karaikal district to inspire more students to discover the joy of reading and writing. Founder of People’s Welfare Trust, Thirunallar, and a member of Parents and Teachers committee, Naseer Ahmed, contributed Rs 42,000 for the printing expenses.
If it’s story-writing for Vimalisha, it’s poetry that shapes B Roshioni’s hopes for a future where nature thrives. “We should love and protect nature, and stay away from drugs,” she says with a smile.
For N Dhivya Dharshini, it is the vision of a united India. For S Naseema, her poem is a tale of perseverance through hardship, portraying people as wanderers on a journey of self-discovery.
VA Karishma says though her poem appears to be about a child admiring a rainbow, beneath its simplicity lies a message of hope that difficult times are temporary and brighter days will return. As her poem points out, “It fades away, but does not cry, It will return up in the sky.”
Meanwhile, Murugan said initially most of the students lacked the confidence to speak or write in English. “Through innovative classroom practices such as folk dance, villupattu, drama, role-play, storytelling, puppet shows, educational games, ICT-based learning, and other joyful learning activities, they gradually developed their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills,” he points out.