News & Pics: Sudeeep Shenoy
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (VA)
Mangalore, Jun 10: The members of Students Action Movement (SAM) conducted a rally to promote usage of paper bags as opposed to plastic bags, recently.
The rally which commenced from Chinmaya School proceeded to Kadri Market via Arya Samaj Road – Balmatta – Cherry Square – St Agnes – Mallikatte. The students carried placards and posters indicating the harmful effect of plastic bags. They later distributed paper bags to the vendors at Kadri Market.
The anti-plastic drive received a lot of support from the people at Kadri Market, and they were seen happily accepting paper bags as an alternative. Arun, a vendor at the market said, “Rarely do we see kids storming with so much enthusiasm into our market and trying to bring about change. But sadly, even though we try to support plastic bags, the customers demand plastics for every item they purchase from us. Thus awareness for the consumers is necessary as well. But we certainly laud the efforts of these kids”.
The most interesting part of the rally is that the paper bags which were distributed were made by these young kids themselves, using old newspapers. Srinivasan, the convener of Centre for Integrated Learning (CIL) said that as there was a high demand for the paper bags, they are now looking for people who are interested in making paper bags on a regular basis. This, he says will be a lucrative job for the youth trying to make some money, and this will greatly help them in their cause.
Vaishnavi, one of the members of SAM said that it was a very special and educative rally. “We just took a small step, hope it becomes a giant leap pretty soon” she says cheerfully. Trishma Pinto co-ordinated the rally along with Srinivasan Nandagopal and Sachitha Nandagopal, the founders of CIL-SAM.
The CIL and SAM have jointly organized many other programmes like Tobacco Awareness Programme at Kadri Parka and Clean Sultan Battery Drive among others.
Prior to the rally, a formal inauguration programme was held at Chinmaya High School. Capt Ramprasad, member of Citizen’s Forum and Toastmasters international and Prabha Kudva, an eminent social activist were the guests of honour. Headmistress of Chinmaya School Kavitha, staff members of Chinmaya School, Srinivasan Nandogopal and Sachitha Nandagopal, and Trishma Pinto were present on the occasion.
Hrishikesh Shetty, member of SAM was the master of ceremony. Akanksha, welcomed the gathering. Sushanth introduced the chief guests. Delivering the convenor’s address, Nandagopal said “CIL which started with just 2 people initially is now in contact with 6000+ students. Education is meant to give value to life, but is unfortunate that there is a need for value addition to education itself. Hence CIL with its Parallel School is aiming to bridge this gap, providing children with a chance for all-round development.
“It may seem an impossible feat to change the sorry state of affairs all over the world. But as kids, you can do your bit. A little goes a long way in saving the planet. Alone, you may be nothing, but if you join hands with like-minded people working for the same cause, you can make a huge impact” said Capt Ramprasad. He also made the audience take a pledge to save their surroundings.
“It is not right to completely stop development. It is highly necessary. But not at the cost of things very precious to us, like air, water etc. Also plastic bags are the major pollutants of the environment” said Dr Prabha Kudva, the lady who pioneered in the door-to-door garbage disposal solution for Mangalore, and also the person who took up beautification activities for Gandhinagar Park. She discussed the use of cloth bags as an alternative to plastic bags.
The formal function concluded with a vote of thanks by Carol Menezes of SAM. Later, the kids of Chinmaya School had a fun session where they learnt to make paper bags out of old newspapers. The members of SAM assisted these students with this activity.