UAE's Farsana wins global Malayalam test

A young Indian student from Al Ain has achieved a celebrity status, after she emerged victorious topping a worldwide competition from among 40,000 students in 40-plus countries.

Farsana Nazreen, Grade 11 student of New Indian Model School, Al Ain, is thrilled to be the winner in the senior category in the Madhuramen Malayalam competition.

The contest was jointly organised by Malayalam Mission, a Kerala Government initiative to encourage Malayalam skills among Overseas Keralites,  and ‘Gulf Madhyamam’ newspaper.

Speaking to ‘Emirates24|7’, Farsana said: “I am happy and proud to come first in a worldwide competition. Malayalam is my mother tongue and I love it. There is a lot to study, but still I find time to read Malayalam books and newspapers.”

The thirteen finalists came from the six GCC countries. Gayathri Vipin, Grade 8 student of Indian High School, from Bahrain was the winner in the junior category.

Farsana proved her skills in Malayalam language writing, speaking, literature, poetry, discussions and even acting.

The awards were distributed at an event that coincided with the launch of ‘Media One Gulf’, a new Malayalam channel from the Madhyamam/Media One Group.

“ I will be using the prize money to buy books, mainly Malayalam books and I am excited about winning the prestigious prize, representing the UAE,” she added. She is the daughter of  P M Rafi, pharmacist, and Aisha, science teacher. The family hails from Thiruvananthapuram.