What to Expect at the Katha Utsav 2025 Finale

What Selected Participants Can Expect

For children who move from the Regional Workshops to the Katha Utsav 2025 Finale, this is not the end of your pursuit. It is the beginning of a deeper journey with stories, people, and purpose.

The Finale is designed as an immersive, in-person experience where writing grows out of observation, conversation, and shared reflection. It brings together children from different regions, schools, languages, and lived realities to learn together—slowly, thoughtfully, and with care.

Writing That Begins Before the Page

At the Finale, writing goes beyond prompts or rules. It begins with walking, watching, listening, and noticing. Children may write under trees, in parks, or in open spaces. Some sessions unfold through movement, some through conversation, some through silence.

Stories emerge from lived moments—what children see, feel, question, and connect with. The focus is on depth of engagement, not speed or output.

Mentors as Co-Explorers

Finale mentors do not “teach” from the front of a room. They walk alongside children, ask questions, and shape environments where ideas can surface naturally. Each mentor brings a distinct approach—through performance, observation, rhythm, memory, ecology, or play—so children experience multiple ways of thinking with stories.

Mentorship at MCC is about presence and attention, not instruction.

Learning Across Differences

One of the most critical aspects of the Finale is who children learn with. Participants come from government, low-budget, and private schools. They come from cities, towns, and smaller communities.

Over two days, children listen to unfamiliar stories, sit beside peers unlike themselves, and slowly build trust and friendship. Writing becomes a shared act—one that builds empathy, kindness, and understanding of the world beyond one’s own circle.

Parents as Thoughtful Participants

The Finale also includes curated sessions for parents. These are not parallel activities, but extensions of the same thinking. Parents explore storytelling, learning, and purpose alongside mentors—often through walks, conversations, and reflective discussions.

Many parents say these sessions reshape how they listen to their children’s ideas long after the Finale ends.

Recognition Without Competition

Children who attend the Finale are recognised for their journey and participation. Certificates and acknowledgements mark commitment and growth.

There are no cash awards. The emphasis is on learning, NOT ranking. Writing here is an outcome of their engagement, and not the goal itself.

A Shared Closing

The Finale ends with collective reflection—children, mentors, and parents sharing what stayed with them. What surprised them. What changed.

Many leave with new friendships, new questions, and a renewed relationship with writing—not as performance, but as a way of understanding the world.

The Katha Utsav Finale is an invitation to slow down, pay attention, and write with purpose.

It is where stories are not judged, but lived.

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