A 70-year-old tradition gave Delhi’s children a luminous, screen-free Sunday and an open sheet to fill.
On Sunday morning, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium became an open-air atelier. Thousands of children aged 5 to 17 took up brushes, crayons and watercolours for the 62nd Shankar’s On-the-Spot Painting Competition, organised by Children’s Book Trust (CBT). The subject was revealed only at the venue, with no rehearsal and no template. In keeping with the day’s theme of digital detox, the only glow that mattered came from the colours on the page. “This morning, they answered the question we posed in our invitation. Give a child a brush and a blank sheet, and the screen is forgotten. Watching thousands of children lose themselves in colour for hours, entirely absorbed in something of their own making, was the most eloquent argument for a digital detox that we could have hoped for.” Mrs. Navin Menon, Editor, Publications, CBT
Free for every child, by design Participation was entirely free of cost. CBT charges no registration fee and accepts no sponsorship for this talent hunt. “Every great artist began as a child with an unguarded imagination. At Children’s Book Trust we neither charge a registration fee nor take any sponsorship, because creativity should never carry a price tag. This competition is free for every child, and that is how we keep Shankar’s dream alive: a country where every young talent gets a brush, a sheet and a chance to shine.” Mr. Rajeev Khera, Council Coordinator, CBT. The on-the-spot format was introduced in 1952 as a live extension of Shankar’s International Children’s Competition, founded by the celebrated cartoonist K. Shankar Pillai, who also established CBT in 1957. After a long hiatus, it returned in 2022 and drew over 3,000 children. It was held twice in each of 2023 and 2024, then paused in 2025 because of high air-pollution levels and government restrictions. It resumed in January 2026 with the 61st edition at this same stadium, when 152 children received medals (3 gold and 149 silver) and 320 received certificates of merit. “Institutions endure when they stay devoted to the next generation. Children’s Book Trust has done precisely that for decades, and the energy at the stadium today shows why this tradition matters more, not less, in a digital age.” Mr. Robinder Sachdev, Trustee, CBT
As in previous years, the best entries in each age group will receive the Shankar’s Memorial Gold Medal, the Children’s Book Trust Gold Medal and the Children’s World Gold Medal, along with silver medals and certificates of merit. Prizewinners will be informed individually in February or soon thereafter.
