A GOOD EFFORT: Participants of the `Toyota Dream Car Contest 2005' with their sketches, in Bangalore on Sunday.

BANGALORE: An opportunity to design the cars of the future can unleash a million possibilities and a zillion creative ideas can storm the brain while carving out the blueprint for a chic, stunning car.

Professional designers do this without batting an eyelid. However, ask children to draw a car and watch them mesmerise us with their creativity.

Over 5,000 children across the country are busy doing exactly this. Competing with children from Pakistan, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, China, Korea and Taiwan, these young designers are all set to crack the "Toyota Dream Car Art Contest 2005".

Indian children, up to 15 years, now have the opportunity to design a car, paint it on a paper and await the prizes.

The Toyota people have worked out this concept called "on-the-spot-drawing competition" to get the children involved.

Jumping headlong into the contest, over 5,000 children have enrolled in the first half of the two-month long event.

With the theme being, "Your dream car of the future", the contest invites participants from three age groups: below nine years, 10 years to 12 years and 13 years to 15 years.

On Sunday morning, 500 children showed up at the contest venues, the Ravindu and Nandi Toyota dealers in Bangalore. Seven-year-old Shyam Sundar from NAFL School designed a luxury limousine and named it "The Speed Gecko".

"This car can be controlled by voice and will open and close when I say so.

"I have to type the destination and the car will automatically drive to it.

"There is enough space for children to jump, run and sleep. We can even watch a movie in the car.

"It is an all-terrain car and no one likes to get out of it," said this designer.

"Innojet" was 15-year-old Prateek's idea of a future car.

This student of National Public School was sure the car can travel at 5,000 miles per hour, powered by a McDonald Douglas Engine.

"It is a jump jet and does not need a runway to take off. Of course, it has wings," said Prateek.

Organised by Toyota Motor Corporation, Japan, the contest will judge and award prizes exclusively for the Indian entries.

The first prize is a personal computer worth Rs. 30,000 for each category, the second prize consists of educational books worth Rs. 20,000 and third prize is educational books worth Rs. 10,000.

To participate in the contest, children can collect entry forms from any of the 49 Toyota dealerships across the country.

All entries must be drawings in colour on A3-sized paper.

Participants can submit more than one entry and entries must be submitted by September 28 to any of the Toyota dealerships.

Entries will be screened and the winners announced in Japan.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor will announce the winners here in India.

The international winning entries will be announced in the January 2006 issue of Readers Digest.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail