Composition and Writing Skills: Essay, Letter, Summary, Translation
Nibandh (essay)
Three recognised types: varnatmak (description), vicharatmak (argument) and bhavatmak (reflective). Structure in four blocks - prastavna of two or three sentences, vistar of three or four paragraphs each carrying one point, examples from Bihar and Magahi life, and upasamhar that returns to the opening claim without repeating it. Keep to the word limit; examiners cut marks for a long essay with thin content faster than for a short, tight one.
Patra (letter)
Formal letters carry sender's address, date, receiver's designation, vishay line, sambodhan, body, and signature; informal letters drop the vishay line and use a personal opening. In Magahi, open with Pranam, address the reader as Aapan, and close with a courteous formula. Keep one purpose per letter.
Sankshepan (summary)
Reduce to about one third, write in the third person, keep the main claim, key figures and conclusion, drop examples, repetition and ornamental lines. Never copy sentences verbatim and never add your own opinion - both are penalised.
Anuvad (translation)
Translate sense, not words. Convert idioms to an equivalent idiom, keep technical terms in their standard form, and read the output aloud to check that the Magahi word order (verb final, postpositions after the noun) is natural.
Worked example
A hundred-word passage argues that trees protect fields, gives two village examples and ends by asking students to plant saplings. A 30-word sankshepan keeps the claim and the appeal, drops both examples, and states the conclusion in the summariser's own words - a third of the length, no first person, no opinion.
Traps
Exceeding the word limit; copying the passage into the sankshepan; omitting the vishay line in a formal letter; word-for-word translation that produces ungrammatical Magahi; adding personal views inside a summary.