Winners with Ashokamitran awards at an event organised by Kolam Trust and Kamadhenu magazine of The Hindu group in Chennai on Saturday. M. Karunakaran | Photo Credit: M_Karunakaran more-in It was a befitting honour to six winners of a short story competition, who were presented with the Ashokamitran award on his birth anniversary at a function held here on Saturday. Organised by Gnani’s Kolam Trust and Kamadhenu magazine of The Hindu group, the Ashokamitran short story competition received close to 250 short stories written by nearly 150 authors. The awards, being presented for the second consecutive year, had six prizes in two categories — published and unpublished. ‘Thaneerum Kanneerum’ by Vizhi.Paa. Idayavendhan, ‘Thirukartheeyal’ by Ram Thangam, ‘Thani Maram Thoppagum’ by S.Gopalakrishnan, ‘Nadhi Pogum Koozhangal’ by M.Bhaskar, ‘Kootu Kudumbam’ by Geetha Srinivasan and ‘Marie Biscuitum Mangalam Aachiyum’ by Praveen Kumar were chosen as the best short stories. Veteran Tamil writer Ashokamitran’s wife Rajeswari Thyagarajan gave away the awards along with cash prize. Speakers highlighted the need to encourage youngsters to develop reading habit and also attempt short story writing. ‘Writings still relevant’ Film director Karu.Palaniappan elaborated on veteran writer and novelist Ashokamitran’s lucid writing style and intricate details. His writings were still relevant in this era, he added. He shared his experience in short story writing. T. Ramakrishnan, one of Ashokamitran’s sons and senior journalist with The Hindu, said his father always supported aspiring writers and valued their efforts. He thanked the organisers on his family’s behalf. Mana Bhaskar, assistant news editor, Kamadhenu magazine, and Tamil writer Bhaskar Sakthi, spoke. Earlier, Pareeksha theatre troupe read Ashokamitran’s ‘Aaha kaan Maaligai’.

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