A TRAGIC tale of Dora the explorer touched the hearts of the judges of GDNLife’s popular monthly short story competition.

Unlike the seven-year-old girl of the popular adventurous children’s TV series, this character takes the shape of a mammal facing the menace of man.

Dora the Dolphin, viewed more than 1,000 times already, was created by award-winning Bahrain-based poet Nivedita Roy and impressed judge Rohini Sunderam from Bahrain Writers Circle, who said: “A tragic story told from the point of view of a young mammal with a moral for us human beings.”

It’s the second time the Indian expatriate has picked up the coveted BD25 adult prize in the contest. The 51-year-old teacher also found success last June with a crime thrilling limerick entitled Honour Killing and described her latest success as the ‘best possible New Year gift’.

“Thank you, GDNlife and the judges,” she added. “You have given me the next stepping stone of encouragement to continue writing.

“This story is now a part of my third book as a writer which is a compilation of 25 short stories and memoirs. It is under publication in India.”

Married to Allen, general manager of a Bahrain-based company, the couple has two children Aanya, 25, and Alex, 21.

As reported earlier in the GDN, she was among 50 people from all over the world declared as recipients of the coveted ‘Rabindranath Tagore Memorial Literary Honours 2022’ for her poetry, regularly featured on the GDN’s letters page.

A new up-and-coming young writer with ‘plenty of potential’ took the U18 contest prize of a pair of Cineco Cinema tickets and made it a double delight for Adliya where the winners of both categories live by pure chance.

Midhun Milton, a 15-year-old Class 10 pupil of The Asian School focussed on the generation gap and the tale of a young man’s changing relationship with his granny.

The Grandmother has already received more than 1,200 views on our social media platform and judge Chris Fenton, head teacher of the British Primary Department at Al Noor International School, said: “An interesting first attempt that has a moral and some unusual first person narrative. I look forward to seeing you develop as a young writer, Midhun.”

The Indian expatriate lives with his parents – dad Milton and mum Bindhu – and has two elder siblings, Milbin, 28, and Milna, 20.

“I feel so happy about being the U18 Short story winner for last month,” he said. “I think some of the biggest mistakes people can make in their lives, especially millennials, is not giving enough time, care and protection to the elderly. I want to raise awareness about this for upcoming generations.”

Don’t forget, you could be our first winner of 2023!

January entries are invited so get writing up to 800 words today! Register, choose an image, create a title, paste and copy your words in text – and submit to share your work on www.gdnlife.com – clearly stating Adult or U18 entry.

Our panel of judges will also decide on who should walk away with the annual GDNLife Short Story of the Year prize trophies in both categories after the competition’s second anniversary in March.

The winner of the GDNLife People’s Choice Award – the short story that has received the most views and likes – will also be announced.

Join the many keen writers of all ages being offered the chance to publish their work on Bahrain’s popular social media platform for a monthly prize. As a result of the contest’s success there is now a special exclusive Short Story section on www.gdnlife.com for visitors to enjoy.

managingeditor@gdnmedia.bh