Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar, October 22:- The District Language Office, Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar, organised the ‘Punjabi Literary Writing and Poetry Recitation Competitions’ at Khalsa College, Phase 3-A, Mohali, under the guidance of Higher Education and Languages Minister Harjot Singh Bains and the directions of Director, Department of Languages, Punjab, Jaswant Singh Zafar. The competitions included essay writing, poetry writing, story writing and poetry recitation. Students at the matriculation level from various government, semi-government and private schools across the district participated enthusiastically.
Welcoming the participating students, teachers, parents and distinguished guests, Research Officer Dr. Darshan Kaur said that these competitions are organised to promote the literary heritage of the mother tongue in the era of social media and to inspire the younger generation to develop an interest in creative writing. She appreciated the cooperation extended every year by teachers and school heads across the district in organising these competitions.
According to the competition rules, students presented poems on stage through singing in the poetry recitation category. For the poetry writing competition (300 words), the topics given on the spot were ‘Mechanical Life’, ‘Five Rivers’ and ‘The Call of Mother Earth’. The topics for the essay writing competition (600 words) were ‘AI: Friend or Foe’, ‘Punjab’s Water Crisis’ and ‘The Future of the Mother Tongue’. For the story writing competition (600 words), the topics were ‘The Test of Conviction’, ‘The Banyan Tree of the Village Gathering’ and ‘The Wall of Sirhind’. Intense competition was witnessed across all categories.
In the poetry recitation competition, Manavjeet Singh of Gyan Jyoti Global School, SAS Nagar, secured first position; Dilpreet Kaur of Government Senior Secondary School, Majatari, secured second position; and Pavneet Singh of Shishu Niketan Public School, Sector 66, Mohali, secured third position.
In the story writing competition, Rajnish Kaur of School of Eminence, Dera Bassi, secured first position; Mandeep Kaur of School of Eminence, Dera Bassi, secured second position; and Nancy of Government High School, Mauli Baidwan, secured third position.
In the poetry writing competition, Harshdeep Kaur Dhanoa of School of Eminence, Kharar, secured first position; Sukhpreet Kaur of Government Senior Secondary School, Majatari, secured second position; and Harjot Singh of Shishu Niketan Public School, Sector 66, Mohali, secured third position.
In the essay writing competition, Anu of Government Senior Secondary School, Pandwala, secured first position; Swain Sahota of School of Eminence, Dera Bassi, secured second position; and Gursimrat Kaur of Dashmesh Khalsa Public School, SAS Nagar, secured third position. The district-level winners will participate in the state-level competitions to be held during Punjabi Month.
The observer panel played a significant role in conducting the competitions. It comprised Dr. Pushpinder Kaur, Ms. Dilpreet Kaur, Dr. Sukhwinder Kaur, Ms. Gurmeet Kaur and Ramanjit Singh.
