It was Environment Day at Daksha school. The children were asked to dress in something green. Anjali was glad she had a green dress. There was also to be some debate about plastic use so she was all excited. I chose 'No to plastic' she said.
Sometime before we left from home I saw her busily doing something. She had cut some papers, was pulling out her crayons and paints. I wondered what all the activity was and waited outside for her to come. She was fully focused on whatever she was doing.
She came by shortly.
'See nanna,' she said pointing at her hair pin. 'A green hair pin.'
I saw then what she had done. She cut out a small paper in the shape of a flower and painted it green and somehow stuck it onto her hair pin to go with the theme.
Wonderful!
'How did you do that?' I asked in the car.
'I remembered the green dress so I thought I could do something more. I cut out the paper. It did not come right. So I drew again and made amma cut it. Then I painted it but it did not come out well. So I put crayon. I asked amma to stick the flower to the pin. Do you like it?'
Wow! Lot of work.
'Nice,' I said. Full marks for the spirit of participation. I love it.
I always look at the bystanders and the ones who participate. When did we become bystanders? I am sure we'd love to participate too but somehow we become diffident, we wait for the invitation. But children don't seem to have those inhibitions. There was no invitation, yet there is the spirit to add, to improvise and make the event so much more colorful. Its a comment on her own environment at school, the teachers who encourage this sort of participation. Well done Daksha. You are making a difference to the environment in more ways than one. Creating a nurturing, learning and participative space for children and encouraging them to grow is probably the greatest environmental change we can bring on in this world.
Sometime before we left from home I saw her busily doing something. She had cut some papers, was pulling out her crayons and paints. I wondered what all the activity was and waited outside for her to come. She was fully focused on whatever she was doing.
She came by shortly.
'See nanna,' she said pointing at her hair pin. 'A green hair pin.'
I saw then what she had done. She cut out a small paper in the shape of a flower and painted it green and somehow stuck it onto her hair pin to go with the theme.
Wonderful!
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| Green Day |
'How did you do that?' I asked in the car.
'I remembered the green dress so I thought I could do something more. I cut out the paper. It did not come right. So I drew again and made amma cut it. Then I painted it but it did not come out well. So I put crayon. I asked amma to stick the flower to the pin. Do you like it?'
Wow! Lot of work.
'Nice,' I said. Full marks for the spirit of participation. I love it.
I always look at the bystanders and the ones who participate. When did we become bystanders? I am sure we'd love to participate too but somehow we become diffident, we wait for the invitation. But children don't seem to have those inhibitions. There was no invitation, yet there is the spirit to add, to improvise and make the event so much more colorful. Its a comment on her own environment at school, the teachers who encourage this sort of participation. Well done Daksha. You are making a difference to the environment in more ways than one. Creating a nurturing, learning and participative space for children and encouraging them to grow is probably the greatest environmental change we can bring on in this world.
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