She read out her first story on radio at just 12

G. Meenakshi, who was chosen for the Bal Sahitya Puraskar 2022 Award by the Sahitya Akademi recently for her Tamil short story book ‘Malligavin Veedu’, wrote her first story when she was just 12.

“It was a story targeted at adults, titled ‘Anbulla Anni’. I wrote it and sent it to All India Radio’s ‘Ilaya Bharatham’ programme. They asked me to read it out, which I did. So far, I have written five books for children and eight books for older people,” said the author, who is the Editor of Rani Weekly Magazine. 

‘Malligavin Veedu’, contains 12 short stories that aim to inspire children to study well, respect their elders, go plastic-free and serve the deserving. “I have written books based on real life, and stories picked out from the news. One story was about a girl who helped her father clean the Dal lake in Kashmir every day. ‘Malligavin Veedu’ is a house that is self-sustaining, and Mallika’s two friends are very impressed by how the family grows its own food and keeps it plastic-free, and they too want to emulate such ideas in their homes,” she said.  

Ms. Meenakshi said she had been writing stories that contain a moral for the reader. “I will write other genres too, including comics and fantasy tales,” she said. 

Along with Ms. Meenakshi, writer Kalimuthu had been chosen for this year’s Bal Sahitya Puraskar Award for the poetry collection ‘Thanithirukkum Araligalin Madhiyam’. The award, in the form of a casket containing an engraved copper plaque and ₹50,000 in cash, would be presented at an event to be held in November in New Delhi.