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problems were introduced and resolved. With A Book is Born
each round of rewriting, their confidence grew.
Soon, they were not only writing with fewer The culmination of this experiment was
errors but also crafting imaginative tales drawn a remarkable milestone: a published anthology
from their own lives and village experiences. titled “The Stories of Yapalguda Children.”
The book was officially released at the 36th
From Errors to Empowerment
National Book Fair at GaddarPranganam,
The process was painstaking. Students Telangana Kalabharathi (NTR Stadium),
were taught to use quotation marks for dialogue, Hyderabad. The event was graced by the
to move beyond description, and to give voice student-authors themselves, their teachers,
to their characters. Some drafts were rough, but writers, and a large audience.
instead of discouraging them, Gangaiah For the children of Yapalguda, standing
welcomed mistakes as part of the journey.
“Errors are not failures,” he says. “They are the at a book fair in Hyderabad—miles away from
first steps toward independence in writing.” their tribal hamlet—was nothing short of
transformative. “We never imagined our stories
By the end of the year, nearly 20 would be in a real book,” said one of the young
students were confidently penning short stories
in English—many inspired by their own rural authors, beaming with pride.
surroundings, festivals, and daily life. This was The achievement quickly drew the
not just language learning; it was creative attention of regional and national media. BBC
empowerment. Telugu, ETV, and DD Yadagiri featured the
children and their teacher, while newspapers
praised the project as an inspiring example of
rural innovation in education.

The Method Behind the Magic

The initiative was grounded in the DOP
(Description–Observation–Participation)
method, a pedagogy developed by Dr. K. N.
Anandan and widely promoted by SCERT

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