The Sri Mela
The Sri Ram School, Gurgaon had their annual mela on December15, 2002. There was a section for NGOs. Gobar Times was a special part of it. We focussed on our air pollution and water harvesting campaigns. Panels comparing ‘Delhi lungs’ with ‘Himachal lungs’ drew a wide range of response with children going YUK!

The Kids for Tiger Mela
Have you ever shaken hands with a tiger? Well I did. It was great fun. I even saw tigers dancing, talking even singing. Where? At the grounds of The Army Public School, New Delhi. No, this isn’t a story. This was the ‘Kids for Tiger’ mela organised by INTACH in collaboration with Sanctuary-Asia from January 16 to 18, 2003. Apart from various contests, there was a model exhibition that invited various schools to exhibit models of wildlife sanctuaries made out of recyclable material. So, there was the Ranthambore sanctuary with its majestic tiger, the lion sitting comfortably in the Gir forests, the elephants in the Corbett national park.

The most colourful event was undoubtedly the face making competition. The students were at their artistic best. They held the brush in the hand dipped in into a bottle of paint and started to paint. Not on paper but each other’s faces. Yes yellow and black stripes, big moustaches and black nose. Apart from the function and the cultural activities the mela had also invited environmental and Wildlife NGOs. There were a number of games. Animal facts – and electric circuit board game where if you connect the fact with the right answer, a small bulb would light up. Which animal has the beak longer than its body? A sword-billed hummingbird. I am sure you could not have guessed that. But I did. This was just one of the many games that were part of the mela. Towards the end of the event the students made a human-chain, they held each other’s hands and together pledged to preserve the environment and save the habitat of the tiger.

Prakriti Mela
The Prakriti Society of the Lady Sri Ram College, New Delhi, organised a Prakriti Mela from January 27 to 31, 2003. The students were in awe with Ms Veena Das and her Ikebana skills. A man is screaming for help to save his house. No, no, don’t worry. This was just a street play organised by an NGO, Pravah on the perils of the Tehri Dam. Prakriti also initiated a paper recycling drive. All you had to do is dump waste paper not in the dustbin but in special boxes marked "recycle paper" bins. All the waste paper collected through the Prakriti Week was then handed over to Vatavaran, a Delhi-based NGO, for recycling. "Take my bottle back", was a protest campaign organised by Gobar Times and Chintan, a Delhi-based NGO.

Book Mela
From dictionaries to textbooks of science, math, social studies and astronomy. From Nancy Drew to Rabindra Nath Tagore all at one place, the Salwan Public School Book Fair on February 8 and 9, 2003. All the leading publishers in the city participated in the fair attracting book lovers from various schools. There were many competitions including quizzes not only for children but also the teachers. Yes, there was a special quiz in which the teachers were dodging the quizmaster’s questions. A book is a treasure of knowledge. So a book fair definitely calls for a Treasure Hunt, in which the one who hunts down the book announced gets a prize. Down To Earth, the science and environment magazine is also a treasure of knowledge and was on the treasure list as well. Children were seen searching for the books from one stall to another. There were poster-making and slogan-writing competition. The event was an effort by the school to bring the children closer to the books.

Plastic Mela
The biggest event on plastics in Asia. Everyone was there. The Gujaratis, the Punjabis, even the Italians flew down to New Delhi to attend PlastIndia 2003. The Gobar Times reporters could not miss this event and were itching to click and write. Plastics are bad. Yes everyone knows that. But is that the story of plastics? No way. Children from seven schools from Delhi participated in a four-day media workshop organised by CSE. They travelled with plastic from its first stage, production of virgin plastic, to its last, disposal. Recycling units – ragpickers – consumers – shopkeepers – manufacturers. They heard every bit they all had to say and penned it all down for their magazine, Gobar Times. No teachers. No uniforms. It was all work and play. Read the special edition they produced in www.gobartimes.org.