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Celebrating Earth
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Katha organised Earth Day for school children
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Photo: Rajeev Bhatt
A pledge Children taking part in Nupur Awasthi’s quiz on Earth Day
Seated under the shade of neem trees, just outside the Katha office in New Delhi’s Sarvodaya Enclave, as many as 70 children came down to earth this past Tuesday, by an interesting way of celebrating the bounty of Mother Earth. The kids got a b
reak from the synthetic, concrete surrounding. Their giggles conveyed they just loved it. They touched earth (mitti), splattering it all over their hands, counted the dots on ladybirds and partnered with the parakeets and the barbets in their musical cacophony.
They didn’t mind sharing space with the bees and the butterflies. You can say that they painted with all the colours of the wind.
Katha played host to Shri Ram School (Vasant Vihar), St Mary’s School (Dwarka and Safdarjung) and Delhi Public School (Vasant Vihar) in a refreshingly creative and informative celebration of Earth Day. The children understood the fact that earth was in their palms and that they were sitting on it’s lap. Realising the urgency, they pledged to take care of the environment and ensure fresh air, clean water for all living species.
Quiz
Storyteller Nupur Awasthi interacted with the children and quizzed them with questions such as “Name the oldest mountain in the world? Or what was the origin of Najafgarh nullah?” An award was also declared for anyone who was plastic-free. Sadly and alarmingly, there were no takers. Children wrapped the event with clay-modelling creatures like turtles and tigers. The creative ones made dragons, dinosaurs and vultures.
The events were based on the book ‘Earthsong’ by Katha writer Geeta Dharmarajan. Each school performed a song that to them represented the importance of Earth Day. The Shri Ram School participants sang their composition, Earth (W)rap, a catchy yet informative song about the urgency of conservation. To quote, “Earth Day is everyday”.
Said Nupur, “Each day we make an impact on the environment through our action, through our lifestyle decisions, etc. Earth Day is a good day to make environment-friendly promises and resolutions. And for a change children too enjoyed being out in the open and touching clay.”
Children contributed interesting slogans like “Earth is melting: what is our future? So, come on friends, let’s save the Earth, don’t let it melt”; “I will not use plastic things. I will not waste paper”; “I will use a car or a scooter only in an emergency. I will not cut trees”; “If someone throws something I will pick it up and throw it in the bin.”
AMRITA TALWAR
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