Environment Week

Are we to leave our successors a scorched planet of advancing deserts, impoverished landscapes and an ailing environment? Nani Palkiwala.

Reams of paper have been dedicated to raising awareness on the alarming state of environmental affairs. Much has been spoken on this issue of humungous magnitude. Alas! Much remains.

Never one to shy away from social obligations, The Indian School observed Environment Week, with a clarion call to everyone to take ownership of the environment and to actively engage for the protection of our earth.

With Environment vs Development as its theme, the School plunged into a vigorous campaign to engage wards the observance of annual occasion, from Monday, 9 July 2018 to Friday, 13 July 2018. [gallery link="file" order="DESC" columns="2"] Workshops, nature trails, plantation drives, nukkad natak, dance drama, special assemblies , art and craft activities, book reading, storytelling, role plays, nature photography amongst many others, shared the limelight during the week-long festivities. On 7 July, senior students engaged in an animated dialogue with renowned environmentalist Mr. Vimlendu Jha. They discussed the recent cutting of trees in south Delhi on a massive scale in the name of development. Mr. Jha is founder of Swechha, a leading environmental group in the country. The eminent conservationist, Mr. Jhas provocative query, Could we replace water and survive on soft drinks instead? amused many, but it also forced the assembly to ruminate on the gravity of the question raised. He shared with the riveted gallery the harmful consequence of cutting trees and polluting the Yamuna. His observation that a river cannot be built like the metro and therefore rivers need to be conserved was impressive. Meanwhile, students of middle school went on a nature trail to Netaji Nagar to view first hand, the devastation wrecked by the ruthless slaughtering of trees in the name of the citys growth. Mr. Verhaen Khanna, former Indianite escorted them around the colony, exposing the bitter ground reality. The sloganeering of the outraged students rent the air, even as they marched holding up placards on the significance of trees in our lives. The exquisite beauty of the lush green park in Sadiq Nagar was captured in the lens by our aspiring photographers under the able tutelage of Pratham Gulati, alumnus of the 2017-18 batch. The pre-school and the pre-primary sections actively participated in a plantation drive. The little green lovers got eco-friendly planters from recycled items of daily use, like the humble coconut shell, to plant tiny saplings which they happily carried home. Around 400 saplings were planted in the process. The kids rejoiced in a yoga session, nature walks where they collected leaves and twigs to use in class for leaf printing etc. The Environment Awareness Parade was a heart-wringer with the diminutive cherubs donning headgear made of newspaper! They also came up with short slogans to charm their audience. The primary school children germinated cumin, coriander and mustard seeds in mugs and planted saplings in self-decorated tin cans. They crafted best of waste products like lampshades, dolls and photo frames. Their creativity and innovation knew no bounds as they made colourful wristbands on the theme Save Water and checked the wastage of water in the washrooms. Their teachers presented a skit on Look what we have done to our Mother Earth which demonstrated how to keep the environment clean. Videos on the 3Rs that are synonymous with preservation were played. The special assembly on the conservation of water included Dastangoi a medieval oral storytelling art form. The impressionable minds wrote pledges about saving water on cutouts of droplets. An exciting no sew cloth bag- making activity reused old T-shirts. All sang the lilting environment song, Saving Earth that talked about saving our planet and making it a better place to live. The children enthusiastically participated in I Promise- a badge making activity with a pledge to save our natural resources like air, water, trees, etc. A tree activity was conducted on 11 July 2018 wherein the children wrote on the leaves-two initiatives to save nature. The students discussed conservation of resources and ill-effects of using plastic bags. This was followed by poster-making, flip book, paper bags using old newspapers, portable dustbins and T-shirt designing. For us, at The Indian School, preserving environment is not an annual event to be practised for a week but a way of life. Every day is Earth Day. Every hour is Earth Hour. We endeavour to make Mother Earth a better place for you and everyone on the planet. Save the Earth for what its worth!

Ms. Rukmini Thampi.