Although he’s not a teenager yet, Gumlee Ete (11), a class VII student of Dehra Dun’s SelaQui World School, is well on his way to becoming a literateur and writer. And that’s certified by the Gurgaon-based Scholastic India Pvt Ltd, a company engaged in the business of publishing children’s books.
A contestant in the Scholastic India Tenth Annual Scholastic Writing Awards, 2008 for outstanding original writing (short story or non-fiction prose) for students of classes IV-IX countrywide, Gumlee was the sole representative from Uttarkhand and was adjudged first runner-up in the short story category. The contest attracted 3,000 entries and was judged by eminent author Samit Basu, Anupa Lal and Shobjit Mahajan, lecturers in English at Delhi University and Suhasini Haider, television anchor.
“I wrote a short story of 1,000 words set in an imaginary place in North America called Zooluloo. It’s a complex story of treachery and deceit leading to revenge and redemption,” says Gumlee.
The only son of Duggum Ete, a civil engineer employed with the Public Works Department and Amping Perme, a medical practitioner settled in Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh), Gumlee disco-vered his love for the written word and the English language after he enrolled at SelaQui in 2006. “If it wasn’t for my English teacher Sudeep Ghosh, I wouldn’t have known that there’s a hidden writer in me. It was through his constant boosting and support that I became aware of my potential to write good stories,” he says.
Credit to his English language teacher apart, Gumlee attributes his literary interests to a love of reading inculcated in him by his parents. “I am lucky that my parents are great story tellers and encourage me to read extensively. Fortunately SelaQui School has an excellent library and I read about six-eight books every month, especially adventure, fantasy and fiction. I also love poetry and Robert Louis Stevenson and Samuel Taylor Coleridge are my favourites. That’s helped me develop my writing skills,” say the young author who lists music, football, table tennis and lawn tennis as his other interests.
And while it’s too early to plan a career, Gumlee is inclined towards computer engineering. “Machines and mechanisms fascinate me and I’m sure I can combine my love of computers with my passion for writing,” he says.
Natasha Pathak (Dehradun)