Hyderabad girl wins award from Dr Abdul Kalam

An inspiring essay on women's empowerment won 21-year-old Shahwar Fatima a prize and special congratulations from the former president of India Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.

An award presented by the former president of India APJ Abdul Kalam came as a pleasant surprise to Shahwar Fatima, a first year Mass Communication student from St Francis College for Women. The 21 year-old girl, who won a recently held inter-collegiate essaycum-elocution competition, organised by Shanti Niketan College, says, "It was a proud moment for me when I received this award from the hands of Dr Kalam.

The competition took place three weeks ago and we were informed that the award ceremony would be graced by the former president. Given his busy schedule, none of us expected him to turn up. But when he did come and congratulated me personally, my hands were trembling. Eighteen colleges from the city participated in it and I'm glad I won. Everyone from my college management and lecturers to my family were thrilled too."

Shahwar's award-winning essay was on the 'Role of Women in Giving a Clean Society'. "In my essay, I wrote about how we all belong to a patriarchal society where male worship is promoted and propagated. I also dwelled at length on how women are treated today, emphasising on the fact that mothers should teach their sons to treat women with respect and the importance of equal gender roles at home and in academics. I also stressed on the need for the girls to learn self-defence at an early age. All this, in the wake of the recent Delhi gang-rape case and other horrific instances of sexual harassment and assault on women in India lately. It was all these burning issues and more that I dealt with in my essay," she says.

However, this is not the first award that Shahwar has received for her writing. "I have been passionate about writing for years now and have won many competitions in both school and colleges. Though I'm not very studious, I read lot of books and make it a point to read newspapers everyday to keep myself abreast with what's happening around us. And it's this interest in writing and current affairs that prompted me to pursue a literature and mass communication course," says Shahwar, who wants to become a journalist.

"Though my parents want me to become an IAS officer, I wish to pursue journalism as a career. However, I'll surely try to fulfil my parents' desire and also prepare for IAS exams."