A journey that began with a small story has today arrived at “Bowl of Milk”
In 2020, Samaya Rai Sharma (age 7) wrote a short story—“Tears to Stars” We liked her story so much that a 3D animated short film was made based on it. This film received several awards at both national and international levels. But for us, the most special part was that one little girl’s imagination reached so many people.
It was from here that an idea was born—if one child’s imagination could be so beautiful, why not give other children the same opportunity to write their own stories?
Carrying this purpose forward, the Pragyarthee Trust was established in 2022. Working with children across different schools, we realized that every child holds many wonderful stories within them. All that is needed is an opportunity for them to express themselves, to think, and to shape their imagination into words. With this thought, we began working toward encouraging children’s interest in story writing. We believe that writing stories is not merely a means of learning language, but that it gives children a chance to think, to imagine, and to express themselves in their own way.
It was from this effort that the initiative to publish this book began. In the beginning, we had not imagined that this journey would go so far. Children from different parts of India sent in their stories, and gradually this initiative reached beyond India’s borders as well. Today, we are happy that children from nearly 20 countries participated and shared their stories with us.
“Bowl of Milk” is a collection of the imagination, thought, and creativity of these very children. Every story is special in its own way, because behind it lies a child’s own world and their own voice. Our effort is that this book will not only inspire children to read but also inspire them to write on their own, and that teachers around the world will be able to use it to nurture creative writing and intellectual development in children.
We extend our heartfelt thanks to all the children, parents, teachers, and schools who supported this effort.
Our greatest hope is that reading “Bowl of Milk” will awaken in other children the desire to write their own first story.
By- Dhananjaya Kumar, Sarveshkant Verma & Rajnish Mishra
