Srinagar, Oct. 26 -- I watched them today-these children, bent over white sheets of paper in the hushed halls of Government Degree College, Handwara. Their pens moved hesitantly at first, as if the thoughts inside them were fragile, unsure of the world beyond their minds. A slight pause, a careful dip into the ink. And then the words came. Slowly, steadily, cautiously, as though the act of thinking itself demanded reverence. It struck me how long it had been since any of us had felt that trembling - that electric anticipation - when words wait to be noticed, to be coaxed out of the silence.The essay competition, organised by the Tabinda Memorial Society in collaboration with the National Book Trust, India, under the aegis of the Ministry ...