Sunday 30 June 2013

Jahan hai hariyali, wahan hai khushali. Saari dharti kare pukar, paryavaran ka karo sudhar!!!!

Jahan hai hariyali, wahan hai khushali.
Saari dharti kare pukar, paryavaran ka karo sudhar!!!!

WED- World Environment day – 2013 on SEBS

What a day!! So much happened that it’s difficult to list out everything…………………. However, here follows a brief description of all that was done that day, in the words of the communicators themselves…J


On world environment day, I had conducted Nature on the Stage competition. The idea was to give topics to students like “save the tiger”, “air pollution”, “save fuel” etc. and they had to give out a message through a small self developed skit. The participation was good with students performing quite well. The participants managed to deliver meaningful messages through quite entertaining and humorous performances. I felt very happy after conducting the competition because all the students enjoyed very much and were content with the event and along with that they learnt important environment related messages!

-Prachee 


Hi! On World environment day, I conducted outreach activities at New Tinsukia Jatiya Vidyalaya. These are the salient features of what I conducted:
-I started with a brief description about the content of Science Express Biodiversity   Special Phase VI and its main motive.
Then I moved on to games and activities like –“how to join 9 points with 4 lines”, “how to solve the Brahma’s tower puzzle” and the demonstration of Newton’s cradle. Other games included the “Habitat fragmentation game” and “Web of Life”.
We had a lengthy discussion about varied biodiversity related topics like the Tectonic plate theory, which supports the idea that India was once a part of Gondwanaland and that the Indian sub-continent had detached itself from Africa; we discussed the biodiversity and cultural heritage of North-East India and the need to conserve our available bio-resources.
Through our discussions I learned about various bamboo species and about the medicinal value of some locally available plants.

       We concluded by remembering two quotes of Mahatma Gandhi-
“Be the change you want to see in the world” and
“The world has enough to meet every person’s needs but not their greed.”

I felt extremely proud when the Principal felicitated me and thanked me for visiting their school.
The next day a group of students from the same school visited the train and told me that they remembered the outreach event conducted by me at their school and that they really enjoyed it. That really made my day! :)

-Uttaran


World environment day is a commitment to the nature that we will protect and nurture her as our mother. A story writing competition was organized on the occasion of world environment day on the SEBS train. This was an effort to squeeze out the creative juices from school children. A pitcher plant talks to an insect was the topic (a strong encounter between two enemies- the pitcher plant kills insects by gulping them). The struggle to survive in the biosphere continues by humans, plants, birds and animals. This struggle should be a stimulus to have a cordial relationship with the nature. This was the idea behind the story writing competition proposed by me. It was an interesting exercise and even though not many participated, I was glad that the idea had been taken forward and that students came up with their views.

 -Atman  


On World Environment Day, I had conducted a quiz competition. It was very interesting for the students and they really enjoyed the event. They came to know many new things about science. I too enjoyed a lot with the students and it was a great experience to cheer them on, to get answers from them and to motivate them to know more about science.


 -Vandana


I conducted activities and experiments in the JOS Lab among school students on world environment day, which focused on human induced impacts on climate change and biodiversity and how balanced biological diversity is itself able to reform the environment hence making the earth a suitable place to live in for humans.
 -Mukesh

Our Tree Our Friend

I’ve just joined SEBS and it has been about one month! Being fond of mimicry and acting, I was involved in a “platform play” twice- once on International Biodiversity day and then on World Environment Day. A team from Science Express including Raghav sir, Bijoy Sir, Chandra Shekhar, Richa, Prachee and myself reached Hijuguri Assamese Middle English School which was about a kilometer away from the New Tinsukia Railway Station. We had a short play titled “OUR TREE, OUR FRIEND” in the play ground of the school regarding environment conservation. Through the play we aimed to spread a message about the important role of trees in our life and that still we were rampantly cutting them down without knowing their pain.  After the play we arranged a rally from the school to the railway station shouting at the top of our voices the following slogan:


जहाँ है हरियाली वहाँ है खुशियाली.
सारी धरती करे पुकार , पर्यावरण का करो सुधार!

It was really a great time for me and I feel happy that contributed to the environment in some way! The cherry on the cake was that I really enjoyed my interaction with children while performing the skit and conducting the rally:D


Everyone participated in one event or the other, and the entire day was packed with amazing energy and fervour! We had Bijoy Goswami and Ravi S. Das from CEE, Regional Assam Cell joining us, and they not only helped us with our own pre-existing ideas, but they also added new dimensions to our concepts and expanded our ideas into more practical, successful and meaningful events; Bijoy da- the brain storming sessions with you proved to be so enriching and interesting! Thank you for making Science Express an even more colourful, happy and meaningful place!

For all the events that have not been extensively written about, here is a short picture capsule covering all that has been left out:


Logo Competition 




Make a promise



 A green future












Tuesday 4 June 2013

All hail my motherland!!

“Mera rang de basanti chola, maaye rang de….”...  I felt goose bumps as my new friend and me were listening to this song, while traveling to the New Delhi, Safdarjung Station on 9th April 2013; the eventful day on which the ‘Science Express – Biodiversity Special’ was to be flagged off, once again. It was the first day of my very first job and I wanted to get into it with the right frame of mind; this song- with its wonderful music by A. R. Rahman and the most touching lyrics was good enough to instill patriotism and sheer love for our motherland, in the heart of any Indian. We marveled at the beautifully written and sung verses, looking at each other and smiling excitedly, believing that we were going to contribute to the betterment of our country. The Science Express team reached the Safdarjung Station completely charged up to commence a phenomenal journey of seven months, around the country!

At the Station, the venue was being prepared for a grand ceremonial inauguration and flag-off by Smt. Sheila Dikshit, the Honb’le Chief Minister of New Delhi, Shri Pawan Kumar Bansal, the Honb’le Minister of Railways and Smt. Jayanthi Natarajan, Hon’ble Minister of Environment & Forests.  There were officials and workers bustling about the place, making arrangements and phone calls, and we walked in, nervous but excited to contribute and be involved in the ongoing activities. A few of the team members had been part of Science Express in the past and they were cool and confident guiding us as to what to do next.

The train was beautifully and elaborately decorated. We were welcomed aboard the exhibition train with the warm and smiling faces of Shri Chander Mohan Sir, Advisor, NCSTC, DST and Shri Dilip Surkar, Executive Director, VASCSC! As always, they asked us about our well being and how we werefeeling, everyone spoke and shared their thoughts. The dignitaries were to be conducted through the train coaches along with the communicators and were to be explained about the coachs’ content and its relevance.

Smt. Sheila Dikshit showed keen interest while being conducted through the coaches and I had the opportunity to brief her about the coasts and islands of India and the flora and fauna found there. Shri Praveen Kumar Bansal attentively listened to the communicators and gave valuable inputs through the discussion. After the dignitaries visited the train, they were taken back to the stage and each one of them was invited to say a few words on the occasion. Smt. Dikshit shared her experience of having spotted a rare Siberian owl while taking an evening walk along with her daughter and she said that it was one of the most joyful evenings that she had spent. She stressed that our country was one of the most diverse countries, with one of the longest coastlines and highest mountain ranges and pointed out the importance of safeguarding our natural wealth.

As the evening proceeded, a number of media persons approached the guests and science communicators and recorded a number of news bytes, hence giving good coverage to the function. Finally at 5.45 pm, on 9th April 2013, the Science Express – Biodiversity Special was flagged off from Delhi Safdarjung Station; great loads of cheers and shouts accompanied the flagging off and everyone was very happy and enthused! The train then reached Pragati Maidan, Delhi where the exhibition was to be showcased for four days. After the flagging off, an informal meeting was held between the communicators, Shri Dilip Surkar Sir and Shri Chander Mohan Sir; snacks were distributed and the communicators were encouraged to further break the ice and become more comfortable with each other. Towards the end, the SEBS team had a photograph with the dignitaries, who gave the project their blessings before leaving.

As we traveled back to the hotel, in the bus, I looked around at my fellow communicators and wondered what was going to keep us together for 7 months; would it be our friendship, our love for the job, our manager’s efforts or something else? As I was musing over the same topic, I remembered the song…..”Mera rang de basanti chola”. I smiled and then it dawned upon me- the unique biodiversity of India and its richness, our love and appreciation for the amazing natural bounty of our motherland, and its blessings- that would keep us together for 7 months and make the project a success. All hail my motherland!!