Parade to Preserve

PARADE TO PRESERVE On 20 April, 2012, as part of Earth Day celebrations, our School organised a protest march against the Bus Rapid Transport system, which has been a major source of inconvenience for the citizens of our city. Not only has it increased travelling time significantly, it has also contributed to polluting the citys air, causing health problems for people in the area. The BRT system is also hazardous for pedestrians attempting to cross it. To drag the attention of the authorities, we, the students of class 12 set about preparing to bare our concerns. We dug into our collective pool of creative energies to create life-sized posters of the issues oppressing us. In a group of 40 students and 4 teachers, we strung surgical masks and solemnly matched step to a drum beat upon the sidewalk. We first walked down one side of the BRT and then the other for the occasion. For special safety, 2 head constables made time to accompany us as we made our way. We stood holding aloft our banners as the traffic halted at the signal and we were delighted that several commuters despite their hurry and their pre-occupied minds, did look our way. In the beginning , some of the attention was perhaps curiosity but as the moments ticked, people did appear to want to heed our appeal. They began to turn off their engines as they waited and their attention towards us seemed to offer us their spontaneous support! We came back reassured that our early and innovative effort had seemingly managed to make some mark. Report by Ummang Sharma, class 12 C.