Pulwama, June 25: Izhar Mubashir, nominee for the Sahitya Akademi Bal Puraskar 2025 for his Kashmiri short story collection, “Shure Te Chure Gyush”, has called on storytellers to move beyond traditional fairy tales.
According to him, such narratives no longer resonate with the psyche of today’s technologically immersed children.
“We live in an age dominated by information technology and artificial intelligence,” said Mubashir, who has spent over 15 years working closely with children as a school teacher.
“My experience has shown that today’s children have little interest in conventional stories with fantasy characters and unrealistic settings,” he said, stressing the need for storytelling that aligns with the interests, imagination, and psychological development of modern children.
“The characters in traditional tales do not reflect the machine-driven, rapidly evolving world that children now inhabit,” he said, advocating for contemporary themes that foster relatability, curiosity, and meaningful engagement.
His short story collection “Shure Te Chure Gyush” — comprising 13 stories — seeks to instill a modern outlook among children on issues like moral values, environmental awareness, pluralism, and healthy parent-child interaction.
“These stories are specifically crafted for the 9 to 16 age group, encouraging them to think critically while staying rooted in cultural and ethical values,” he explained.
Mubashir also praised Haar-e-Jung, a novel by Abdul Hamid Siraj, calling it a landmark contribution to Kashmiri children’s literature. “That novel was a source of inspiration for me. It motivated me to create something both engaging and relevant for today’s young readers,” he said.
The Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, has nominated Shure Te Chure Gyush for the prestigious Bal Sahitya Puraskar 2025 in the Kashmiri language category, recognizing its creative contribution to modern children’s literature.
Known in literary circles as Izhar Mubashir and as Mubashir Ahmad Shah elsewhere, he hails from Waghama village in Bijbehara, Anantnag.
A graduate of Government Degree College Anantnag, Mubashir began his career as a private school teacher and now runs a private educational institute in his native village.
In addition to children’s literature, he has written poems, short stories, and critical articles.
His first poetry collection Viyoor, comprising 60 poems, was published in 2007. Though initially writing in English and Urdu, Mubashir later turned to Kashmiri.
He also has authored around 20 research papers.
Izhar Mubashir is founder of Anjuman- e- Shar -o- Adab South Kashmiri and is serving as secretary of Maraaz Adabi Sangam
