The Hindu Young World Painting Competition
School students giving shape to their ideas at The Hindu Young World painting Competition in Coimbatore on Sunday and (right) winners with chief guest. B. Balamurugan, Passport Officer, Coimbatore. A riot of colours at the 16th edition of The Hindu Young World painting competition, at the Avinashilingam University for Women here on Sunday, made the event a sight to behold. Even though the topics were earmarked for the juniors (Standards IV to VII) and the seniors (Standards VIII to X), the creativity of the children were so varied that there were no two similar looking creations.
The annual event of the daily attracted nearly 400 finalists from the districts of Coimbatore, the Nilgiris, Erode and Palakkad. Students and parents were filing in before the appointed time. And, rain did not dampen their spirit. The participants from the Nilgiris made a hurried entry much after the starting time and yet managed to finish on time. The finalists were drawn from the 1,000-odd contests who took part in the preliminary round. The juniors were given two themes to choose from – “Your favourite food at the breakfast table” or “Your pet and you.”
Students who chose one of them did justice to their work. The themes of the seniors were “A day at the picnic” or “Cultivation.” The seniors were overshadowed by their juniors in creativity. The judges – K. Krishna Gopal, Managing Director, New Deal Advertising Company, and M. Sharada Reddy, both artists and art lovers – were impressed with the younger children’s ingenuity. The deciding factors for both of them were relevance to the theme, colour co-ordination and contrast, appeal and how many varied aspects were brought into the picture.
“The materials used are not a criterion. It is the presentation and overall appeal,” they said. The elimination was a difficult task with many works competing for the top slots. The organisers had made arrangements for enough consolation prizes anticipating such a situation. Hence, besides the three prizes, there were seven consolation prizes in each category. All the participants were given certificates.
The first, second and third prize winners in the junior category were: B. Nandhini, Standard VI, Bharathi Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Coimbatore; S. Swathi, Standard VI, Bharathi Vidya Bhavan, Erode; and R. Subash Chandran, Standard VI, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Coimbatore. The three prize winners in the senior category were: V. Umesh Balaji, Standard IX, JSS Public School, the Nilgiris; Ishaani P. Shah, Standard X, G.D. Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Coimbatore; and K.J. Niveda, Standard VIII, SBOA Matriculation Higher Secondary School. B. Balamurugan, Passport Officer, Coimbatore, gave away the prizes to the winners. He asked parents to encourage their children’s interest in painting.
“Those days there were no opportunities even if we were good. Today, it is a different scene. Parents encourage children in taking up creative pursuits. Drawing and painting are encouraged. Each painting is unique. Hence, you should not consider yourself a failure if you do not win,” he told the participants. The winners walked away with cash prizes and loads of goodies like toys and toffees. Lotte Booproo was the title sponsor. Sree Annapoorna Sree Gowrisankar was the snacks sponsor and ARC Aquapura was the water sponsor.
