Tulsi Chaitanya loves listening to stories that her grandparents narrate. One of Tulsi’s favourite stories is about her grandfather’s valiant effort to catch a notorious dacoit when he was a senior police official. Her grandmother’s stories too keep the fifth standard student of Bishop Cotton Girls’ School engaged.
Years of listening to her grandparents’ stories has stood her in good stead and Tulsi recently won a story-telling competition conducted by a bookstore. As a grand prize, Tulsi is on her way to Mussoorie to meet and be mentored by one of India’s most popular story-tellers: Ruskin Bond. “I am extremely excited to meet him as I am inspired by his story-telling skills,” says the 10-year-old, who enjoys participating in elocutions and debates. “This has helped me hone my oratory skills and hence, I was confident of doing well at the story-telling competition,” she says.
Tulsi will stay in Mussourie for two days and learn the nuances of story-writing from Ruskin Bond. “He is also an ‘old Cottonian’, having studied in Bishop Cotton School, Shimla. I will extend an invitation to him to participate in one of our literary activities to be held as part of our school’s 150th year celebrations,” she adds.
