JOIN USShankara Rotary Children’s Library organised an activity day on Sunday for children in the age group of three to 15 years. The programme was a joint venture of the Rotary Club of Bangalore and Sringeri Shankar Math. The purpose of the event was to create a social connect among students, help revive the fading tradition of reading books, spread awareness on topics which are not discussed in class, enable the students to grow together and bring out the best of their creativity under a single roof.
Hundreds of children from various schools across Bangalore assembled at the West gate of the Lalbagh Botanical Garden to begin the day with the ‘Walk-a-Thon’, a marathon. The walk ended at Shankar Math, which was the venue for the rest of the programme. The Bangalore Traffic Police and a total of 850 volunteers paved the way for the children and ensured their safety on the road.
“The marathon was a great experience. There was a rope to ensure that children did not stray away from the track. The volunteers formed chains to protect us from the vehicles and the police also did their best to control the traffic. We were also provided with water, biscuits and glucose,” informed Shama Holla, a class 10 student of RV Public School.
The students watched a magic show and shared a few light moments as well. This was followed by a drawing competition on ‘nature’. Young storytellers were extremely happy to find that there was a story-writing competition. The children were provided with information on nutrition, science, traditional musical instruments and the environment. A number of NGOs like People for Animals (PFA) and The Animals, Birds and Nature Foundation came together to talk to the students about animal rights, identification of bird species and the ecology on the whole. Superstitious beliefs, which tend to condemn animals like snakes, owls and bats, were discussed openly. Live demonstrations related to science were also displayed to them.
“The programme was very fruitful and I am very happy with it. But there were some places which had two-way traffic that could have been managed better during the marathon,” said Brinda Nagendra. Her daughter Anvita Nagendra, a class one student of Sri Kumaran’s Children’s Home, enjoyed the drawing competition and magic show the most among all the events. This was not all. The children were also given bullock cart rides, which added to the excitement.
“Children have forgotten to read. I want all of them to come to the library, read as many books as possible and take part in the extracurricular activities that it has to
offer. Reading is very important. Just mugging up books from school don’t help. There is a world of interest outside the classroom, which these kids must be exposed to. That is what we are doing here,” said Seethalakshmi Chinnappa, the curator of the children’s library, and programme and a Rotarian.
Ahalya SK, a fifth-standard student of Sri Kumaran’s Public School, who is also a member of the Shankara Rotary Children’s Library said, “I had a great time. The best part of the show was the science exhibition and magic show. The library is really nice. We get to read a lot of good books and we have activities every weekend. It’s fun to go there.”