Source : Hindustan Times
She won the award for unique, imaginary stories for children in the age group of five to 14 years.
Gammat Ghosti (Modern moral stories), a children’s book by Pune-based author Sangeeta Puranik (54), has won the Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad award as well as the Marathi Balkumar Sahitya Sabha award instituted in Kolhapur.
She won the award for unique, imaginary stories for children in the age group of five to 14 years.
Gammat Ghosti (Anushri Prakashan) has 30 short stories, one for each day of the month. “Nowadays children belong to nuclear families and sometimes moral values are lost in the technologically- advanced world we live in. Children soak in a lot of information and are still not aware of what is good or bad information, hence, it is important to use books to teach them,” said Puranik.
Puranik calls her stories modern as they are based in the modern day-and-age and are written in Marathi, using terms which today’s children are familiar with. “These stories are filled with morals. My presentation of morals in the book is in a language which they will understand,” she said.
Puranik feels that books have taken a back seat in today’s tech-driven world. “Buying a book has become a status now, especially buying English books, but Marathi books are not treated the same way. They cost less, have good content, but, because students study in English medium schools, Marathi language and its books come second. By writing creatively in Marathi, I want to reach out to many young readers,” she said.
The stories in the book are interesting. It has a story on multiplication tables and how it is important to study well; and a story on the nutritional values in various vegetables.
Puranik has written two more children’s book before, one has nursery rhymes and the other has short stories for teenagers.
Puranik is inspired by her granddaughter Sanika. “I began by creating imaginary stories and making her understand moral values. A good story book should inspire, entertain and be something that will add value to the child’s upbringing,” she said. Her family has been her pillar of support as well as critics, who bring out the best in her.
