Fun-filled knowledge for little stars

To say that he and hundreds of other children drawn from as many as 31 schools of Nayandahalli and the surrounding areas on Mysore Road, had a memorable day out, will be an underestimation.

Says the class seven student: “We enjoyed every bit of this trip taking part in various activities like dance and singing competitions, oratory contests and street plays.” He, however, says that the most remarkable part of this trip was the drama they enacted on health hazards of junk food.

“It was not just against junk food, rather it was the children’s pledge of fighting against the ill-effects of modern lifestyle,” he said with the determination of a seasoned campaigner.

Stating that he truly relished every moment of the outing, he added that he would certainly look forward to coming for such an outing again. Yasmeen, an anganawadi student, says that she also enjoyed the outing, especially the English and Kannada classes conducted on the occasion.

“It was fun-cum-knowledge for me. I like the way we were taught English alphabets,” she told Deccan Herald. Salman, a madarasa-going child also savoured the fun-filled trip. “I liked the dance and song competitions,” he said.

Earlier, the festival was inaugurated by Rajendra Prasad, an official of the State Department of Women and Child Welfare. Anslem Rosario, Chief of the Bangalore Rights Initiative for Dignity and Empowerment (BRIDGE), a group of 13 NGOs which organised the event, said that the festival was aimed at tapping the potential of government schoolchildren.

He informed that BRIDGE network was active in 39 slums located in 26 wards of the BBMP. Dr Kshitij Urs of Action Aid, Bangalore and others also spoke.