Two Indian students have been awarded the runner-up prizes by the Duchess of Cornwall, for the Queen's Commonwealth Essay Competition 2021 for the essays written on COVID-19 pandemic.
Recognised as the oldest essay writing competition in the world, the two teenagers identified as Aditi S Nair and Raisa Gulati were awarded the senior and junior runner-up prizes in London, The Times of India reported.
Aditi Nair's essay called 'Prithavi Mata' was about the positive impact of COVID-19 on nature. As the name suggests, the essay was about how nature became radiant to the coronavirus pandemic at the beginning but over time it receded when the number of COVID cases receded. TOI also stated that Nair's essay featured how nature would end humanity thirty years later.
Speaking to the media in London, Nair who won the senior runner-up award, stated that though she did not get a chance to speak with the Duches of Cornwall, she had the opportunity to speak with the Speaker of the House of Commons in London.
Meanwhile, Gulati who had won the junior runner-up award wroter her essay called the 'Autobiography of Corona', which seeks to explain the attempt of the deadly virus to destroy human beings but was contained by lockdown and vaccines.
TOI reported that the competition had received over 25,000 entries and the first prize for senior category was won by Kenya and the junior category was won by Uganda.
Apart from the opportunity to meet the Duchess of Cornwall, the essay competition trip to London also included a writing workshop, a tour to Parliament, Cambridge University, and Westminster Abbey.
(With inputs from Times of India)
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