— PHOTOs: K. RAMESH BABU

WINNING SMILES: Artist Laxman Aelay presenting the first prize to Susree Roy, winner in the senior category, in the The Hindu Young World Painting Competition on Sunday. (Right) A participant at the competition.

HYDERABAD: When Susree Roy, a quiet-looking, bespectacled girl from Kendriya Vidyalaya Air Force School (AFS) in Begumpet, ambled on to the stage to receive the goodies that came with her first prize, the Institution of Engineers auditorium reverberated with a round of applause.

The 18th edition of ‘The Hindu Young World Painting Competition – 2008’ was held in the city on Sunday with more than 500 children from various schools participating enthusiastically.

Owing to popular demand, around 1,054 paintings from the junior and 514 entries from the senior level were narrowed down to 500 this year.

The on-the-spot painting competition had ‘Winter morning in your city’ or ‘Spending weekend with your family’ as topics for the junior category, while for the seniors they were ‘Watching Republic Day parade’ or ‘National Unity against terrorism’.

No sooner had the clock struck 9.15 a.m., the hall was awash with colours of all hues as the artistic, young minds let loose their creative spirits as their paint brushes danced on the white drawing sheets giving form to their imagination.

At the end of the two-hour competition, noted artist and popular film poster designer Lakshman Aelay, who was the judge for the event had a daunting task choosing the 10 best paintings each from junior and senior categories.

“I have taken into consideration composition, colour balance, fresh ideas and aesthetics while selecting the best paintings,” Mr. Lakshman told the audience. He also had a word of praise for participants of the junior category for their novel ideas.

A fourth-class student of Mothe Art Academy, Gachibowli, K. Mira Varma, was the winner in the juniors’ category. Fatima Anwar of Atomic Energy Central School – I in ECIL and Himanshu Giri of Kendriya Vidyalaya AFS in Begumpet were the first and second runners-up, respectively, in the same category.

Among the seniors D. Thanmai of Atomic Energy Central School –I in ECIL and R. Sarika of St. Paul’s High School in Hyderguda walked away with second and third prizes. Lotte BooProo, the national sponsor for this year’s event gave away one Funskool game and two Action Man toys to the second prize winners and a small Funskool game and two Action Man toys to those who came third.

The winners received a cricket bat, two Funskool games and two Action Man toys.

A cash prize of Rs.1,250 for the first, Rs.1,000 for the second and Rs.750 for the third were awarded by The Hindu.

Consolation prizes were also awarded to seven participants each in both the categories.

They received a cash prize of Rs.250 from The Hindu and an Action Man toy from Lotte BooProo. All 20 winners also received a jar of liquid-filled bubble gums from Lotte BooProo.

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