Woman in the World of Words takes Words to a Different World:

Spreading the Joy, Sparking Inspiration

Woman in the World of Words takes Words to a Different World:

Prize Money Travels from WNBA-SF to Bengaluru, India

The dollar may not have wings, but it can go far when converted to rupees. When her poem Desolee won First Place in the 2022 Effie Lee Morris contest, WNBA-SF member Miera Rao had an idea to share her joy. With the prize money awarded, she sponsored a poetry contest in India, to encourage underprivileged youth to find their inner poet.  The contest was held at the Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled in Bengaluru, her hometown.

Held in honor of her mother, Sunanda Rao – artist, writer and poet – the prompt was a simple and relatable one: Mother. The result was an enthusiastic outpouring of emotive pieces of work.  Aided by their sighted peers, the visually-impaired students wrote their poems and sent them to be judged.  Poems were all written in Kannada — the State language. 

With the award, Miera was able to sponsor prizes for first, second and third places, as well as for runners-up.  In addition, participants and other students of the School enjoyed a party after the prizes were distributed.  

What was really touching were the messages she and her sister, Mamatha Rao, got from the participants, afterwards.  The winners sent texts and video messages with well-wishes and expressed gratitude for the opportunity.  

One video that was especially moving was a song in honor of Miera’s mother, sung by first-place winner, Latha, poet with permanent vision loss.  Gifted with a divine voice that carried high notes effortlessly, this gracious gesture got eyes wet. 

Miera is grateful to the WNBA-SF Chapter as well as the Judges for the honor of first prize in poetry in the Effie Lee Morris Writing Contest. This monetary award was doubly and richly rewarding, as it funded the poetry contest for underrepresented students. Held at Samarthanam, this Contest in India was presided by the Founder of the Trust, Mr. Mahantesh, judged by Mr. S. R. Vijayaraghava, Mrs. Vasanthi Shenoy, Mrs. Sandhya Shenoy and organized by Ms. Manjula Gowda. 

(Note: Want to donate to the organization, contact Miera Rao on Instagram @sepiaquill or donate directly to Samarthanam.  She is not affiliated with the organization.)